Hidden Abilities: When Darkness Descends
by He Who Lurks in Shadow
Summary: With the war over, Link now finds that even the most evil things don't stay gone forever. Even when the mysterious come to light, will it be enough to protect everyone from When Darkness Descends?
1. A Fight To The Finish

**Hidden Abilities: When Darkness Descends**

**Chapter One - A Fight To The Finish**

"Do not falter!" Link shouted over the roar of the battle. "We carry the hope of all Hyrule!" He charged forward, the remaining force of Hyrule behind him. He quickly left the army behind him, riding into the thick of Ganon's troops. He swung the Master Sword around like a whirlwind. No attack reached him, no defense stopped him. He was a veritable tank on the battlefield, mowing down the enemy before him.

"Ganon! You have darkened the lands with blood and stolen the lives of Hyrule's finest! Today justice shall be meted out in full!" He rode forward and jumped off of Epona. Pulling his hands to the side, he concentrated and slammed his hands to the ground, igniting the very air around him. He watched, satisfied, as a large amount of the monsters vanished in the flames.

"Impressive, I have to say," Dark Link said, watching Link from his shadowy horse. He jumped down from his mount and drew his sword.

Link did the same, watching Dark Link, ready for the fight. "You stand between me and Ganon. I'd suggest you move. Now."

"And what's in it for me? If you get to Ganon and I leave, and he wins, he won't pay me. If you get to Ganon and win, then he won't be in any condition to pay me. If I stay and fight, and I beat you, he'll pay me, and he'll pay me a lot. If I stay and fight, and you beat me, and he wins, he'll still pay me for trying. If I stand and fight, and you win against me and Ganon, then I'm not going to get paid. Any guesses what I'm gonna do?"

"Stay, fight, and get beaten?"

"Cocky. Well, we'll see how that goes." And with that, Dark Link lunged. Link blocked his lunge with his sword and slid forward, cutting into Dark Link. Dark Link spun around and his sword tore through Link's back. Ignoring the pain, he brought his sword back in front of him and attacked Dark Link with a wrath comparable only to the time Dark Link kidnapped Zelda. Once again, Dark Link was pushed to the defensive.

"Ah. Come...to...fight...I...see," Dark Link commented between blocked blows.

"I always come prepared. You're just lucky I'm holding back."

"Holding...back..?" Dark Link replied, shocked. He slowed, but for only a second. However, Link took full advantage of that second, locking their swords at their hilts. Link spun his sword, ripping Dark Link's sword from his grasp and sending it flying. Link smiled, a smile that managed to chill Dark Link to the bone. Link held his sword in front of it and the area around them darkened. The blade of the Master Sword pulsed blue after about half a second and with both hands, Link slashed Dark Link, the blade slicing him from his right shoulder to right below his left ribs.

Dark Link felt the blade sear through him as if on fire. He felt his partially ethereal skin harden. "What have you done?" he gasped, actual steady pain coursing through him.

"You stand between me and Ganon," Link repeated. "Now, are you going to move or am I going to have to kill you once and for all?"

Dark Link nodded. "Very well."

Link watched as Dark Link sunk into the shadows. He noticed that the monsters were standing back, as if held back by some unnatural force. Instantly, Link brought his sword up and it smashed into an energy ball, sending it back toward Ganon.

Ganon dodged it and walked over toward Link. "Well, sent my little shadow warrior running, have we? Worry not, I plan on finishing you here and now."

"Only in your dreams, Ganon. You've threatened Hyrule for the last time under my watch. I have no idea how you broke out of the Sacred Realm, but I plan on making this next imprisonment permanent."

"Big words coming from one so small. You sure you can follow through with your threats?"

"Oh, I'm sure." Link walked forward slowly, assessing Ganon, trying to find a way to topple the Gerudo. Ganon suddenly jumped on the offensive, attempting to skewer Link with his giant sword. Link jumped to the side and instead attacked Ganon with the Master Sword. Ganon spun around and blocked the attack. He brought his knee up and slammed it into Link. Ganon slammed the hilt of his sword into Link's back and then smashed him with his fist. Link flew back and stood, grabbing his sword. He rushed forward and dived to the ground, sliding under Ganon's sword. He swung his sword around and watched it cut into Ganon's leg. Ganon jumped back and brought his own sword down, barely missing Link's head. Link stood and charged again.

The battle raged on for at least a half an hour. Ganon was clearly winning, barely scratched. Link, on the other hand, was battered and bloody. It was a miracle that he was still standing. Ganon roared with laughter.

"Look at you! You're barely alive! You don't stand a chance against me!"

"Think... again... Ganon..." Link said, every word sapping the energy that he had ran out of ten minutes ago. Desperate, he reached into his bag that he carried all of his items in, hoping to find something that would help him. He smiled as his hand passed over the warm wood that he had all but forgotten about.

"What, going to pull victory out of your little bag?"

"Actually, Ganon, yes I am. You see, I'm well known for having thousands of odd and end things that have strange and mystical uses. Like this, for instance." He jerked out the item.

"What, a piece of wood? Oh, I'm sorry, a piece of _painted_ wood."

"That's exactly what it is, a piece of wood. A mask, to be precise." He lifted the mask to his face and shouted as the pain swept over him. Along with the pain, he felt immense power flood through him, ancient power long neglected. He felt the dark energy flow, wrapping itself around his injured form. He felt the armor form around him. He watched as his blade split in two, each half wrapping around the other, joining at the point. He laughed, the deep laugh that had passed into memory. He looked at Ganon through new eyes. He could see the Gerudo's weak points in mere seconds, every flaw laid out in front of him.

"Impressive look, I will admit, but still no match for me." Ganon brought his sword down, intending to slice Link in half. There was a clang of metal as Link lifted his own blade above him, stopping the Gerudo. In an instant, Link shot forward, bringing his sword to his side as it sliced into Ganon's side. The Gerudo drew back and attacked again, but again Link turned the attack into a counterattack, causing Ganon to once again pull back. Link swung his blade and watched as a blue wave cut through the air and collided with Ganon, causing the Gerudo to fall. Link swiped his sword through the air several more times, pelting Ganon with the blue bursts of energy, only stopping when he felt the last bit of magical energy leave him. Ganon struggled to his feet.

"That... was unexpected. You'll really regret that."

"No, Ganon," Link shouted, his voice echoing across the battlefield, "it is you who will regret this! You who dared challenge the boy who would become the Hero of Time those many years ago! You who attempted to kidnap Zelda time and time again! You who even now stands here defying even the Goddesses! It is you, Ganondorf, who will regret this!" Channeling every last drop of energy that remained in his body into his sword, Link slammed it into the ground. A giant burst of blue energy slid across the ground, throwing up rocks until it collided with Ganon, sending him flying back, unconscious. His job done, Link pulled the mask off, the wear and strain that he had put on his body finally catching up to him. He fell to his knees as he faded from reality.


	2. The Battle Is Won!

**Chapter Two - The Battle Is Won!**

The captain of the guard laughed as the Moblins all turned and ran, as did all of Ganon's other troops. "The battle is won!" he shouted. "The battle is won!"

One of the guards ran up to him. "What are your orders, sir?"

"Get the wounded and dead out of here, as well as everyone healthy enough to move. If they can't be moved, I want medics with them until they can be."

"Yes, sir!" the guard shouted and ran away to carry out the order.

The captain walked down through their army, his soldiers calling out to him.

"Is it true?" one asked, coming up to him. "Have we really won?"

"Yes, soldier, today we reign victorious!"

The soldier laughed and shouted the captain's answer to those behind him. This answer brought about a roar of joy, a sound that the captain had not ever expected to hear. After the Queen had fallen, almost all hope had been lost. The final charge that the Hero of Time had led was fully expected to be a death march. Yet here they stood, victorious.

"Captain, have you seen Link?" one of the Gorons, riding a Dodongo, asked him.

The captain shook his head. "No. He rode ahead, intending on facing Ganon alone."

"Brave. Foolish, but brave. It is possible that he managed to do it and that's why we've won. I have a request for you, captain."

"Go ahead," the captain replied, listening.

"I request twenty of Hyrule's best men summoned as soon as possible and assembled here. They will join twenty of Ruto's best Zora scouts and fifty of my bravest Gorons in a wide search for the Hero of Time."

The captain nodded. "I shall assemble them at once."

Darunia nodded as the man walked off, shouting names into the thick of the army. He himself turned to the giant Goron who was chasing the remnant of Ganon's army. "Biggoron!" he shouted, causing the Goron to stop and turn around.

"Yes, goro?"

"Do you see Link anywhere?"

"No, goro, I haven't. It's weird, I expected at at least see that horse of his, goro."

"Keep an eye open for him. I'm sending out ninety of everyone's best to find him and I want you to help."

"You got it, goro!" Biggoron rumbled, turning back to the field where Ganon's troops were fleeing.

Darunia watched as Ruto rode up to him. "Darunia, how goes it?"

He sighed, answering, "Not well. Biggoron hasn't even seen Link's mount, much less Link."

"You've got to be kidding me... We have got to find him!"

"The scout party is almost ready. We just await a few of the Hylians."

"I'm coming," Ruto said suddenly.

"What? Are you serious? You want to charge into a retreating army to locate him?"

"Yes, I do. Link is my friend and as such, I won't leave him to die out there somewhere. You're going, are you not?"

"Yes, I'm going. Every single Goron that's ever met Link is going. This Dodongo here says that he has met Link before and knows his scent."

"A talking Dodongo?"

"Yes siree!" the Dodongo shouted, talking quickly. "Name's Dimitri! Met Link over during one of his adventures. Wound my way over here after hearing him talk about it so much. I've had a ball so far and I'm ready to buckle down and get my search on! I owe him that much, at least."

"Don't we all," Ruto replied. She nodded and looked back at Darunia. "Lively personality. Talkative, too. I'm going to get started on the search. You're welcome to come or wait for the Hylians."

Darunia nodded. "Good luck, Ruto."

"Thank you. I have a strange feeling that we're going to need it."

**(-)**

Zelda groaned as she stepped off of the staircase and struggled to the door. Before she got to it, however, a Knight burst through.

"My Queen," he said, hurriedly kneeling.

"Stow the formalities. What news is there?"

The Knight stood up. "The battle is won! Ganon's troops have begun the retreat! Hyrule is saved once again!"

Zelda smiled. "Well, he really did it. And what of Link?"

The Knight stopped. "There has been no news of the Hero of Time. Last anyone saw him he vaulted over enemy lines and was intent on riding down Ganon himself. No one, not even that Biggoron has seen him. There has been a search party assembled by Darunia and Ruto to find him. We shall finish in a few hours. I suggest you rest until the search is over. You're not invincible and it would be devestating if we lost you."

She nodded. "Well, if you find anything, please tell me." She turned and walked back up the stairs, collapsing back on her bed when she arrived.

Zelda woke only to see an empty room. Even though that's all she expected to see, she was hoping for Link to be there or at least someone telling her about him. She got up and sat down over near the table. Quickly checking major wounds, she found that she was healing quite well. There was a knock at the door and Zelda walked to the door, opening it. Ruto stood before her and at that second, Zelda knew that something was wrong.

Ruto stepped forward into he room. "Zelda, I have some bad news."

"He's not... dead... is he?" Zelda asked, afraid of the answer.

"We don't know. We've searched everywhere for him. We even found a spot where there were signs of a great battle, where we figured he and Ganon faced off. The very earth was thrown here and there. However, there's no Link, nor a Ganon. Not even Epona's been found."

"There's... nothing? Nothing... at all?"

Ruto shook her head. "Nothing whatsoever."

"Alright. If there truly is no sign of him, then take the knights and guards and assign them to help the medics as best they can."

"You want us to give up the search?" Ruto asked, shocked.

"No. If I could, I would have the search increased by a hundredfold every day until he is found. However, I must remember that I am Queen first and Zelda second. My country must come before any of my interests and those men would be better used helping the injured instead of looking for someone," she replied, walking over to the window. What was left of Hyrule Field lay before her view. The Field would never be the same. There were holes and fires everywhere, bodies strewn about. They were very lucky that Ganon's forces seem to evaporate when defeated.

Ruto walked over next to Zelda. "He has to be okay. You and I both know that it takes a lot to keep him down even for a second. He's probably somewhere chasing Ganon down or something, possibly even trying to dislodge his sword from Ganon's rear. I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"I hope you're right."

"I hope I am too. And I don't want you to forget that it's not always Queen first and Zelda second. Sometimes you gotta let the Zelda out on a joyride or two."


	3. King For A Day Or Week

****

Chapter Three - King For A Day... Or Week...

This is where it all starts. Life, Death, Misery, Suffering, Hope, Love, they all spring from here. This, my dear, is where We reside. However, this eternal home is not where you reside, yet. You have been given one more chance. You carry the hope of a nation. You are the one We chose. Show us that We chose wisely. This is where it all starts...

-

Link awoke suddenly and tried to sit up. The pain that coursed through his body came close to knocking him out again, but he was stubborn and refused to succumb to the pain. He looked around and noted that he seemed to be in some sort of a tent. His injuries were being tended, but it was obvious that the goal was to keep him alive, not necessarily to get him better. Either that or the doctor had no clue what he was doing.

"Awake, I see," a silky voice floated across to him. The voice seemed familiar, but only as he would recognize the voices of people who were jabbering as he walked by.

The figure walked over to him, and Link gasped. Before him stood a Gerudo thief, wearing the traditional purple desert wear. Her twin scimitars hung loosely by her side, ready at a moment's notice.

"What... do you want with me?" he managed to ask.

"We haven't decided. Now that our King is dead, there's been a council gathered to decide how to continue. They'll decide your fate soon enough."

"What are my options?"

"Well, there's been talk of killing you outright. There's also been talk of making you our new King, as well. Strangely enough, there's been talk of dragging you around with us and picking the best of the children that you sire and appointing him King, too, but I don't think that one's gained very much popularity."

"That's... about the most perverted thing... I've heard all year..."

"Well, when your entire way of life resides on a single choice, perverse ideas and plans of a sexual nature rarely get in the way because of 'social' opinion."

Link sighed and leaned back on the bed. "Well, tell me when there's been a decision."

"Oh, I will," the Gerudo promised as Link slipped back into sleep.

****

-----

The next time Link woke, there were around a dozen Gerudos surrounding him. The one he had met before stood forward, as if about to make an announcement.

"We have decided. For now, you shall travel with us back to the Gerudo Fortress, where you shall continue recovery. When you are healthy enough to move, you shall be brought to the King's Chambers. You will have one week to decide if you want to take the position of King. During this week, you shall be treated like the King would be, and your word will be law. At the end of the week, you'll choose whether or not you accept the position. If you accept, you shall sever all ties with Hyrule and we shall become our own nation once again, with you, nameless, as our King. If you decline, you will have twenty-four hours to escape the Fortress with your life. If you do not suceed, you will be thrown into the Haunted Wasteland with nothing that you brought with you, save your sword and a single outfit. Do we have ourselves an agreement?"

"Do we have ourselves a choice?"

"No, not really."

"Well then, that settles that. Mind if I sleep while we march over there?"

"Recuperation is vital. If our King wishes it, so it shall be done."

"Sure, whatever. Night, girls."

****

-----

Link awoke again to the slamming of a door. He looked around and noticed that he was in a luxurious room and had been placed on an enormous bed that could comfortably fit three people, if not more. He sat up and discovered that none of the countless injuries he had to have sustained existed. In fact, there was not a single cut, scrape, or scar remaining on his body, save for the large one that was a token from his first major fight with Dark Link. As he stood, he noticed that something was off; it was too cold for him to be in the desert. He walked over to the door and flung it open.

He saw a single path that led straight to a large old building. On either side of the path, the ground disappeared into the darkness. Carefully, he followed the path and arrived at the castle-looking building. The door opened of its own accord, granting Link passage. He walked inside, the door slamming shut behind him.

"Oh, lovely. First I wake up, find myself healed, then discover that I'm floating in the middle of nothing. Now I go to this creepy haunted mansion-like place and discover that the doors open and shut by themselves. What have I gotten myself into this time..?"

"Hey, who's there?" an old, temper-filled voice shouted from an adjacent room.

"Who do you figure it is?" a second, icy, voice asked the first. "Who is it always?"

"Or maybe," a third, ancient voice said, "we have found a newcomer."

Link followed the voices and entered a dark room. The second he stepped foot in the room, the entire thing lit up, almost giving Link a heart attack. Inches before him floated Koume and Koutake, both seemingly imprisoned in midair. Link jumped back as he saw them, and decided to see what else was in the room.

The room was plain, but the inhabitants were strange. Behind Koume and Koutake stood Rauru, Sage of Light. Further back were the four Poe Sisters, trapped in a small cage.

"Oh great," Koutake groaned. "Of all the luck, the Hero of Time shows up on our doorstep."

"Hey, brat, do us a favor and kill the Sage!" Koume commanded.

Link laughed. "Are you serious?"

"Well, it was worth a try."

Link sighed and walked over to Rauru. "Mind telling me what's going on here?"

"Well," Rauru said thoughtfully, "Ganon was attempting to bring Koume and Koutake back to help him in Hyrule's defeat. However, I managed to bind them here, at the cost of my own movement. The Poes over there came along with these two, so I assume it was another part of their revival."

"Well, the Gerudo attack on the castle was halted. Actually, the entire thing was foiled."

"What!" Koume shouted. "You lie! It is blasphemy you speak! Treachery against the Gerudo King, Ganondorf-"

"Oh shut up already!" Link replied in kind.

"Insolent boy! You dare think you can tell me what to do!"

"You are Gerudo, yes?"

"And proud of it!"

"Then, by law of the King, shut up!"

"There's no law saying that!"

"Rauru, isn't there some sort of Gerudo magic that forces Gerudos to obey the King's commands?"

"There are a few spells interworked into the position, but for the most part, no. There are some exceptions, of course. Ganon made sure that all of his minions were bound by that very spell. He was even smart enough not to cast it himself."

"What's that got to do with anything!" Koume exclaimed.

"Koume, I command you to shut up!" Link shouted.

Koume tried to say something, but no sound came out. Several seconds were spent with Koume clutching at her throat, as if trying to force words out.

"You... you _can't_..." Koutake whispered softly.

"Tell the Gerudos that. We've got an agreement that I get to try out being King for a week or so. Since I killed Ganon and all, they figured it might be good for them."

"You killed Ganondorf?"

"Yup! I thought I had died as well, but the Gerudos grabbed me. Of course, as soon as I get back, now that I'm healed, I'm gonna get out of here and get back to Hyrule Castle."

"Ha! You honestly think they're going to let you leave? We haven't let a single man back out of being King for over eighty-four reigning years!"

"Reigning years?"

"Yeah. That's what we call the time one King rules."

"Well, they said I could leave if I don't get caught, so..."

"Er, Link?" Rauru voiced, trying to get Link's attention.

"Yeah?"

"You're going to want to go back to that room now."

"Why?"

"Well, you see, those injuries aren't completely healed yet. You just think they are because of the magic in this area. However, it's about gone and you'll be collapsing soon. Now, you will be healed sooner than you'd expect, but not quite yet. Tomorrow, perhaps."

Link groaned. "Lovely. Well, I'll get going. I'll try to visit now and again."

Rauru nodded and Link left the room. As Link exited the house, Koume gasped for air suddenly.

"Weren't expecting that, were you, Koume?"

"Shut up, Sage!"

Rauru only laughed as the lights dimmed once again.

****

-----

Link opened his eyes as if recovering from a particularly vivid dream. He started to sit up, then remembered his injuries. Instead, he looked to his left and was surprised to see a Gerudo sitting on the edge of the bed.

"What are you doing in here?"

"Just making sure you are healthy, my King," she replied. "We can't have you dying on us now, can we?"

"You can drop the King act now," Link replied. "I'm not too enthusiastic about it."

"Well, I don't see why not. I mean, you get to live in the lap of luxury for the rest of your life."

"You see, I'm a pretty big fan of Hyrule, myself."

"Aren't you just a commoner there?"

"Well, yeah..." Link replied. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Over at Hyrule, you'd just be treated like everyone else. You'd rent some shack outside the market, attempt to sell something, then hope you gained enough money to feed your family. However," the Gerudo continued, standing up, "if you stayed here, you would be treated to three feasts a day, if you so desired. Everything you ever need, anything you ever want, it would become our duty to do so. You want food, we get you food. You want to train, you'll face the toughest Gerudos here. You want companionship, we'll be here by the dozens."

"Listen, if you're trying to seduce me or something, it's not going to work, so you might as well stop."

"Oh, no, I'd never dream of doing something like that! I'm just telling you the bonuses of being a Geruda King."

"Sure ya are. Mind vacating the tent?"

"Your word," she muttered, bowing and stepping backwards out of the room.

Link ignored the pain as he slid himself off of the bed. He managed to lift himself to a standing position before the waves of agony swept him, forcing him back down. He growled as he sat up again.

"Goddesses, what have I done to deserve this?"

"Praying to the Goddesses won't help you, you know," a familiar voice said from a chair hidden in the shadows.

"So, you actually came back?" Link asked.

"Of course. You see, you and I just entered a complicated relationship. I was employed by the King of the Gerudos to serve him and follow all instructions given to me, for a price of course."

"Ganon's dead."

"Yeah, but you forget, I'm still being paid by the Gerudos to help the Geruda King."

"You mean to tell me that after all that, after you tried to kill me, you're telling me that you're working for me now?"

"Yup! I think this will be fun, don't you?"

"No, not in the slightest. You're really going to get annoying when I try to escape, aren't you?"

"You bet. The Gerudos are paying me, so what kind of a hired hand would I be if I didn't help keep their King in that position?"

"A particularly nice one."

"My point exactly," Dark Link finished. "So, my King, do you have any assignments for me?"

"Yeah, actually. I want you to deliver a message for me."


	4. Dresses, Gerudos, And A Few Chairs

**Chapter Four - Dresses, Gerudos, and A Few Chairs**

Zelda stood at the window that overlooked much of Hyrule. Sighing, she tossed a small rock out of the window and watched it fall, landing with a plop into the moat.

"Your highness, please cheer up a bit," Impa begged from behind Zelda. "Link will be fine, I am sure of it. He's always had that habit of cropping up when you least expect him."

"I know. And, on a side note, sometimes you really startle me when you just pop up like that."

"I apologize."

"Well, let's try to keep sudden appearances down to a minimum for tonight, okay?"

"Does that include me?" Sheik asked, dropping down from the roof.

"The next time anyone pops up, I'm throwing something at them. Now, who are you?"

"Sheik, milady. I'm sort of your alter ego, just with my own body. It's a bit complicated, so we'll leave it at that." Sheik turned to Impa, who seemed to have expected him. "I found traces of Kokiri cloth near the Zora River. It could have ended up there a number of ways, though."

"What, you're using this guy as a scout, too?" Zelda asked, astonished.

"Yes, your highness. Every pair of eyes we can get will help."

"Speaking of which," a sinister voice echoed as Dark Link materialized in the middle of the room. In an instant, a large chair connected with his head, sending him sprawling back against the floor.

"I warned you!"

Dark Link groaned and stood up. "Well, warning _me_ in particular would be nice. Now, let's see," Dark Link said, looking at the three of them, stopping at Impa. "Tall, muscular, fierce-looking, makes you want to wet yourself at the thought of getting her mad at you, yup, you're Impa alright. I have a message from the Geruda King for you."

"I thought Ganon was dead," Zelda said incredulously. "Er, at least, it makes sense for him to be."

"Oh, he is," Dark Link confirmed.

"They've already found a new one?" Impa asked, equally as surprised as Zelda.

"Yeah. However, this message was for you, Impa, and you alone, so if you will excuse us..." He walked through the door, prompting Impa to open the door and follow.

"Now," Zelda said, turning toward Sheik. "Who are you again?"

He sighed. "Before the curse, I was a disguise that you could assume at will by invoking the Triforce. However, because of the curse, I've assumed my own body separate from yours. One of the aftereffects, I'm afraid. There's an explanation that's more in-depth, but for now just assume that I'm another you, just with a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Well, so long as you're around scouting for Link, mind doing me a big favor and checking on the Gerudo for me now and then? I doubt that they'll stay peaceful for too much longer, even if Ganon's gone."

"No problem. Actually, I've been meaning to stop by there for a while now. Haven't practiced being sneaky in ages."

"Practice being sneaky? That's new."

"Actually, it's really not. Most people prefer to call it stealth, and it's an ideal trick to have. I used to train there while Link was off in Termina. Well, we did. We were pretty good too. We hadn't been noticed in almost a year before the curse slammed into Hyrule."

"That whole you being me is bound to get confusing fast. I can't still do that, can I?"

"I'm not sure. You haven't tried, so I don't know."

"Wanna try it now?" Zelda asked. "Might come in handy to know what happens."

"Sure. You remember the whole 'invoking' the Triforce, yes?"

"I think so." Zelda stood up and lifted her hand in the air, the Triforce Mark glowing. She concentrated, and the light glowed brighter, sending off white pulses that enveloped Zelda.

(-)

"And you're sure I can trust you?" Impa asked of Dark Link, who was somehow sitting on the wall.

"You know who the message is from, and you know good and well that it makes sense. The Gerudo praise power and prowess, and with the defeat of Ganon, it only stands to reason-" The rest of his words were lost in the explosion that erupted from behind the door. Impa spun around and threw open the door.

She rushed in only to find Sheik gone and Zelda propped up on the wall, her position hinting that she had been thrown there by whatever had caused the blast. Zelda struggled to her feet and groaned, rubbing the back of her head.

"What just happened?"

"I'm... not sure. I... tried something and I... or maybe it was Sheik... Either way, one of us set off something he, or maybe it was mine, had with him and it detonated." She looked at her scorched dress and sighed. "There goes another dress. I tell you, we'd save a lot of money if you'd let me have my jeans back."

"Zelda, once again, anything made out of denim is not suited for a Queen. Neither is anything that is designed anything like any part of a soldier's uniform," she added before Zelda could comment.

Zelda sighed, walking over to her wardrobe. She opened it and rummaged through the dresses, all of which looked almost identical, light blue dresses that stood in stark contrast to her normal attire about the palace. She growled and shut the doors. "Now, what was that whole 'message' thing about?"

"Nothing you need to worry about. Just something that I had arranged back when the Gerudos were still peaceful. They were considering continuing it."

"Oh? And what in the world could you have arranged?"

Impa chuckled. "I promised them that they could come and go as they please in Kakariko in exchange for them looking the other way when Sheik goes prowling through there. Access to a town in exchange for acting like they don't see him. We had that agreement for about a year or so, then the curse came and all."

Zelda laughed. "I see." She tried to reach behind her back, as if trying to grab something, but seemed to be unable to, seeing as how she sighed and turned back to Impa. "Help?"

Impa nodded and strode over to Zelda. Deftly untying the strings that were laced across the back of the dress, she attacked one of the many knots Zelda managed to create.

"Honestly, why do they make these like this?" Zelda queried as Impa loosened the fifth knot. "I understand it's fashionable and all, but I really would like to be able to change clothes without help every once in a while."

Impa, finished with the knots, pulled the dress over Zelda's head with one swift jerk. She folded it, popped open the wardrobe, and put the dress at the bottom. Taking a quick look at the amazingly simple, yet astonishingly elegant dresses, she took out one that was a light shade of pink. "Will this do?"

"Yeah, that'll do." Zelda took the dress from Impa and put it on. She tied the twin pieces of fabric hanging down that were made to look like a belt of sorts as she walked over to the door. "Now what?"

"You know, your monthly inspections of the guard has been running a bit late."

Zelda smiled. "You know just what to suggest, don't you?" she asked, pulling something wrapped in a bolt of cloth from a drawer.

(-)

Link groaned as he sat up again. He pushed through the pain and pressed his knees against his chest. Falling back again, he repeated the procedure a dozen more times. As he finished and stood up, one of the Gerudo guards entered. She bowed gracefully and walked over to him.

"Why do you continue to do this?" she questioned, stopping directly in front of him.

"Do what? Exercise?"

"No, not that. Why do you refuse to come out of here and enjoy the Fortress?"

"Enjoy the fortress? I've had enough of the fortress the first time I came here. I've been in every single room that exists in this fortress."

"Well, if you'd rather not enjoy the fortress, at least think about our offer."

"I told you a dozen times already; I'm not going to be your King."

"Why not?" she asked, a note of sadness in her voice. "What is wrong with being our King?"

"Mainly, the whole severing from Hyrule bit. I like Hyrule. I like Hyrule a lot, as it were. I don't want to have to lose contact with the people I know there."

"Even for all of this?" she asked, her left hand trailing around, indicating all of the decorations of the luxurious room.

"I prefer the simpler things, myself. Besides, another thing that I jut though of is the fact that I'm not sure many of you girls would stand a chance against me in battle."

"We could always have you moved to a different, less illustrious room. Also, for the record, I am the second best fighter in the Fortress, and I'm second only to Naboruu herself."

"Room or not, I'd still miss Hyrule. I'd also like to test that claim sometime, Miss Second Best."

"Please, Fayette, my King."

"Fayette it is if you'll drop the King bit."

"Agreed," she replied, nodding. "Now, is there anything I can get you?"

"Food," Link replied, drawing the Master Sword from its sheath and giving it a few practice swings in the air.

"Aye," she said, bowing and leaving the room.

Link slashed the air with the sword, as if fighting an enemy. He whirled around, dodging the nonexistent blade, then dropped to the ground. He rolled to the left and jumped up, cutting the air a he rose. A few more swings and Link decided that his 'attacker' was dead. He swung the blade in a tilted figure eight pattern, the sword cutting through the air, making no sound, both blade and wielder silent. Suddenly, the sword shot across the room, having been released during the upswing. Link grasped his left shoulder, dropping to his knees. He stayed there for a minute or so, willing the spasm to pass and take the ever-present pain with it.

Fayette walked back in, stopping abruptly at the sight of Link on the ground. She sat the food tray down and rushed over to him. "What happened? Are you okay?"

He grunted, nodding his head. "I'm fine. Muscle didn't quite agree with me there for a second."

"Do you need any help?"

"No, that's alright. I'm okay." He sniffed the desert air and discovered a different smell intermingling with the newfound smell of heat.

Noticing that Link was sniffing around, Fayette stood and walked over to the tray. "Hungry, I take it?"

"Ravenously." Link sat down at the table, the pain in his shoulder reduced to a dull throb. She brought the tray over and sat it down. Link dived in, devouring the chicken that was placed in front of him. Fayette stood beside the table and watched him. After a minute or so of this, Link stopped eating and looked up at her. "Did I forget something?"

"Oh, no, I was just making sure you were properly satisfied. Whether or not you wish to be labeled as our King, I am still bound to serve you as such until you formally renounce the title."

"Bound to serve me? I understand the concepts of servants and all, but that just seems slavish."

"Well, it sort of is. There are many Gerudo who serve the King. We are duty-bound to obey his every command, mainly because we are his to command. Usually we are decently treated, though, except in the case of Ganondorf."

"Why am I not surprised? He mean to all of you?"

"Actually, no. About twelve of us were chosen by Ganondorf to serve him, and the rest were treated like we didn't exist. He seemed to have something against me, though. I think it was because I'm the daughter of our previous King before him, who he really didn't like too well."

"Wait, you're royalty?"

"Of course! Three quarters of the King's servants are. We are born of the King, then we serve his successor, then our children serve the next, and so on and so forth. It's Geruda custom."

"That'd take a bit of getting used to. Over in Hyrule, if you're royalty, you're almost as famous as the King and Queen. I'm sure you know about princesses and all."

"Not really, but I can guess. Most Gerudo don't know much aboit Hyrule. Many of us that grew up during Ganondorf's reign were taught that Hyrule was evil and full of fat, lazy Hylians who spent their entire day taking baths and lounging about in the Market, spending thousands of Rupees every hour."

"If only Hyrule had that many Rupees. For one, Hyrule's not evil. Two, there's not really many fat Hylians. Most of the men train as fighters a few times a week, so we stay in shape. Of course, the last real training I did was sneaking in here to talk to Ga-"

"I know," Fayette replied before Link could finish. "Breaking in here when the princess of Hyrule was poisoned. I remember it. Your arrow missed me by centimeters. Tore through one of my favorite outfits, though."

"Sorry about that. I was kinda mad at Ganon and all of you kept getting in my way."

"Understandable. If someone poisoned you right now, I'd be mad too."

"Really?" Link replied, surprised.

"Of course. You're currently holding the status of King, whether you like it or not. If anyone threatens the life of our King, he or she is to be killed on the spot."

"Oh, I see." Link nodded and took a bite out of the chicken that she had brought, the small fowl pulling the customary 'vanishing act' that Link was famous for. As he finished, Fayette, who had also fallen silent, took the tray and started toward the door.

"Nice talking to you," Link said. She stopped and turned to face him.

"And to you. Would you like me to come by later and see if you need anything?"

"No, that's fine." Link thought for a second and added, "Mind me asking why you seem so keen on talking to me?"

The Gerudo sighed softly. "in truth, I was hoping to gain your favor at first. The disgrace at not being chosen by Ganondorf is heavy, and I do not like it. However, after talking with you for a while, I have discovered that you can actually provide a decent conversation about something other than yourself."

"Gain favor with me? Is favor that important to the Gerudos?"

She nodded. "Very much so. When I was not chosen to serve Ganondorf, I, along with the others, became outcasts here, assigned to guard duty, the second lowest position next to prisoner-sitting. I was hoping to get a head start on gaining the favor of the new King because being one of the favored is very, very rewarding."

"You know what? I have an idea. You can tell all your friends that you are most favored among the Gerudo as far as I'm concerned in exchange for absolutely no interruptions tonight. Deal?"

"Deal," she answered, obviously excited. "You don't know how much this means to me."

"Before you get all excited and such, I'm not planning on being King, as you well know, but it may help you get on the good side of the next King."

"I hope so, too." With that, she bowed and left the tent, vanishing into the dusk.

Link nodded and reclined against the chair, planning on sleeping enough to regain some energy.

**-----**

Link jerked awake. He stood up, placed his sword in its sheath, and stole out into the night. He snuck along the ridge of the Fortress's houses, climbing down a patch of vines. Silently, he crept along the outer Fortress, quickly arriving at the most dangerous part of his escape: the mad dash to the bridge. There was no hiding spots; the darkness would be his cover.

He dropped to the ground and bolted, vaulting over the rocks and fences. He dashed down the stairs and past the carpenters' tent, only to find that the bridge was guarded by a lone Gerudo, although it was no ordinary Gerudo. Whoever it was, the guard was shorter, and looked more muscular than the slim and tall Gerudo thieves. He shrugged and ran to the bridge, hoping to be able to pass undetected.

The next five words cut through the air like daggers, each one impaling itself deep into Link. "You can just stop now." Link froze and turned, only to find that the guard was no Gerudo, but Dark Link himself.

"What, put on sentry duty? I didn't think the Gerudo thought so much of you. They going to promote you to prison guard next?" Link asked, taking a moment to taunt his shadowed clone.

"Only tonight. Got a tip that you were going to try running."

"From who?" Link demanded.

"From Fayette, of course. Who else? By the way, want me to show you a trick I picked up from your old girlfriend at the palace?"

"Fayette wouldn't have done that. And sure, if you'd rather."

"Wouldn't she? After a bit of coaxing, she spilled like the Zora River during spring. And as for my new trick, here." Suddenly, from out of nowhere Dark Link produced a large stone that looked remarkably like a crude chair. The stone chair soon found its way toward Link, colliding with his head and knocking him out.


	5. Hanging Around For A Little While Longer

**Chapter Five - Hanging Around For A Little While Longer**

The next thing Link knew, he was awakening in a pitch black room. He could feel that he was standing, and that something was holding his arms and legs, but he couldn't tell what they were. Jerking his left arm, he heard the rattle of chains and deduced that he was shackled to something, probably a wall. Of course, the only place with shackles that he knew about was the prison at the Gerudo Fortress, so it only made sense that Dark Link carried him here and chained him up.

"So, you're finally awake," a chilling voice commented. "Took you long enough. We were starting to wonder if you'd ever regain consciousness."

Link could barely make out the figure of a Gerudo. "How long was I out?"

"A week or so. That Dark Link smashed you pretty hard."

"I've been out a week!"

"Close to. Trust me, you'll be in here a lot longer than that. You'll not be sent out into the desert for a year or so."

"You actually think you'll keep me here for a year?"

"Of course." She walked over to him slowly, menacingly. "Besides, we can't sent you out into the desert healthy, now can we?" She stopped mere inches away from him. Within moments, she unlocked his hands from the shackles and stepped back a bit. "Better?"

"Much," Link replied, readying a plan. He lunged forward, his fist smashing into the side of the Gerudo's head. She stumbled back and laughed as Link quickly found out that his feet were still chained to the wall. He smashed into the floor, the collision sending pain reverberating through his head. As everything faded into further darkness, he heard the Gerudo say something.

"Trust me, you'll regret that."

**-----**

Link next awoke to find that he had been propped up against the wall. He quickly discovered that his clothes were gone and that a white cloth had been fastened around his waist. There was also a plate of food a small distance away. Hungrily, he inhaled the food, disgusting as it was. This finished, he sat back against the wall, trying to guess at how long he had been out that time. He tried to guess the time, but as he had no clue how to corraborate his guesses, he gave up. As he did so, Link discovered that the heat was taking its rough toll on him and he felt unnaturally tired. He gave in to his body's demands and fell into a deep sleep.

**-----**

Link was jolted awake as a door slammed shut. It was daylight now, so he culd see what was going on. He watched a Gerudo come to him and place a tray of food next to him, much closer than the last had been. He looked at her and was startled to recognize the face of Fayette.

"You..." he breathed.

She seemed delighted to hear him speak. Attentively, as she had done that night before his escape, she looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"You... sold me out... Dark Link... said that... you told everyone... that I was going to... try to escape..."

"I would never do such a thing," she replied, obviously hurt by the accusation. "I gave you my word, and I was true to it."

"Then... how did they... know that I was... going to run..?"

"Dark Link's been down by that bridge all night ever since you got here. It would have been a million wonders if you hadn't seen him or he hadn't seen you. Besides, if I had told anyone about your escape attempt, do you think I'd be stuck on prison watch?"

"Well, no, I guess not."

She walked over to what appeared to be a small door. "Okay. Now, I have to get going. Eat up." She started to open the door, but stopped. "Oh, nice outfit," she added with a wink before stepping out of the cell.

Link downed the food and water as before, and felt the strange, unnatural sleep wash over him. His last thoughts were of sleeping pills and winking Gerudos.

**-----**

The next time Link awoke, the first Gerudo was standing across the room from him. He glared at her, noticing that she had food and also noticing that he seemed hungrier than before he had slept.

"Going to taunt me with that food, are you?" he questioned.

"Not yet. It's been a couple of weeks since our last little chat, so I thought I'd come in and get a good look at you, see what's changed."

"Well, that could be anything, seeing as how all this food is laced with stuff, the least of which is a sleeping powder."

"True, true," she replied. "There's a few other things added, of course. Pain medication, a few hallucinogens, stuff like that. Makes the year go by faster."

"How far are we in?"

"Nearing a month."

"Lovely."

"Interested in some news from your beloved Hyrule?"

"Of course."

"Well, a few of our scouts found out that the Queen is holding a ball. You know, a general gathering of Who's Who in the world. Also heard that she pulled back the search troops that she sent after you. Gives up on you, I suppose."

"Zelda wouldn't give up on me."

"And why is that? You think you're special or something? You're just another commoner who she paid a slight bit of attention to. I know for a fact that if you _had_ escaped, she would give you back just like that." The Gerudo snapped her fingers.

"No she wouldn't. I know Zelda too well to believe that."

"Oh really? Well, did you know that Impa, Zelda's closest advisor, has had an agreement with the Gerudo for quite some time. She's been granting us access to certain places previously out of limits, in return for a favor here, a service there. Besides, Zelda wouldn't care if you returned anyway."

"Of course she would! I made her a promise, one I intend to keep."

"Like she'd believe you. Look at you now, a month behind. She probably spent a week or so waiting on you, then gave up. I wouldn't want to associate with someone who lied to me like that."

"I haven't lied. I plan on fulfilling my promise."

"Oh? Before or after you sink into quicksand in the Haunted Wasteland? Who knows, you might even make it to the Temple of the Sand Goddess, in which case the Leevers get to eat you."

"I don't plan on dying at all. You forget, I've been in the Haunted Wasteland."

"Yeah, but you had this with you then," she said, picking up a small item that Link hadn't noticed. In the dim light, he could make out a purple circle on a rod, the circle containing glass that bore the mark of the Sheikah. "The Lens of Truth, I believe. Powerful magical object. I'd hate to accidentally bre-oops!" she exclaimed, dropping the Lens. It smashed to the ground, the glass shattering into dozens of pieces. "Oh, clumsy me."

"You broke it! Do you know how useful that thing was? I'm surprised that some spirit didn't come out and kill you or something."

"Well, it seems to be broken, anyway. There goes your Poe guide, hmm?"

"I'll still make it out."

"Have it your way. Here. Might as well eat." She slid the tray across the floor to him and he scarfed down every bit of it. She seemed to find this funny and chuckled a bit as she picked up the tray.

"What're you laughing at?" Link asked, noticing that his words seemed slurred.

"Oh, nothing," she replied. "See you next month."

Link grumbled an unintelligible response as the sleep overcame him.

**-----**

The next time Link came to, he was surprised to see the first Gerudo. She was sitting on a chair, the usual food on the ground next to her. Next to the food sat a small bag.

"Come to chat, have we?" Link asked.

"Just a little proof on my earlier claim."

"Which claim was that?"

"The one where Zelda couldn't care less about you."

"Ah."

"She lifted the bag and set it down on her lap, rummaging through it, speaking while she did so. "I got Naboruu to send a guard to the castle. She asked Zelda for a few personal items of yours. Of course, the Queen was happy to oblige, even explaining what a few of the things do."

"You lie."

The Gerudo merely smirked at him and took out the Goron Tunic. "Nice color. Zelda said it prevented you from getting roasted, correct?"

"That's what it does, yeah."

The Gerudo seemed to think for a second. She took out a magnifying glass from the bag and put the Goron Tunic on the ground in the small sliver of sun. She focused the magnifying glass on the Tunic, and suddenly, it caught fire and was almost instantly reduced to a pile of charred remains.

She returned to her seat. "Doesn't seem to work."

"That's got to be fake."

"Well then, is this fake?" The Gerudo showed Link a second item, this one his handy Boomerang, which had saved him in quite a few situations. She looked at it for a second, then tossed it upwards, watching it return to her with ease. "Built well, compliments. However, it looks a little flimsy right _here_!" At that she brought it smashing against the back of the chair, shattering the Boomerang in two. Just to prove her point, she tossed one of the halves to Link.

He grabbed the piece and examined it. It looked identical to his, even having his name marked on the bottom. It had to be his, there was no exception. Sighing, he tossed the piece away. "There goes one of my favorite gadgets."

"What, don't like this one?" the Gerudo asked, pulling another of Link's favorites from the bag. The Skull Hammer seemed to pulse in the near darkness.

"Actually, I'm a big fan of that one. It's fun to smash Geruda heads in with."

"Well, we'll need to remedy this." She sprinkled some sort of powder on it and the Hammer seemed to lose a bit of its luster as she spun around and slammed the thing into the wall. Whatever she had done must have worked, because instead of the wall exploding, the Hammer cracked and fell apart from the blow.

"Hey!"

"Oh, that's nothing." She pulled out the Zora Mask and stepped on it, breaking it. She pulled out his collection of rare Multi-Use Bottles and delighted in smashing all twenty of them. Piece by piece, the Gerudo destroyed almost every one of his gizmos and gadgets, even though he really didn't have too many to begin with. After she decimated his poor bow, she looked into the bag and seemed satisfied.

"What, out of stuff to destroy? Maybe you'd like to shatter my sword too?"

"No, we can't have that happening. I have it right here, as it were, but that's just to go along with this." She pulled out a small potato-shaped item that Link knew instantly. If it, too, was real, then all hope was lost.

"That-that can't be real! She'd never give that to you!"

"Well, she did. Also said that if we saw you, to tell you that she said 'good riddance' and 'do whatever you want with it, I don't want it.' 'Too many memories of that lying Link' if I remember correctly.

"She'd never give it to you."

"Here, you see if its real." She tossed the thing at Link and he caught it, his spirits soaring at the mere sight of the cyan object. He looked at it, and saw that it was identical to the real Ocarina of Time, but it didn't have any of the power that he knew so well. Every time he used it, he could feel another presence watching him, a kind presence. Now, though, that presence was gone, as if it had never been there. He suddenly felt a pang of loneliness as he realized that his only link to Zelda was now gone. He nodded solemnly and tossed it back to the Gerudo.

"Real, agreed?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, let this stand as a mark to all would-be heroes. In the end, you have nothing, not even the love of those you believed in." At this, she dropped the Ocarina and grabbed the Master Sword, slamming it down on the Ocarina, shattering it. Link knew that with it, his heart was broken. The only thing that was left that Zelda had given him was that Ocarina, and with it the hope that kept him going, adventure after adventure. She had been the sole cause of him surviving countless fights, and now before him was the pieces of the thing that gave him hope, gave him a chance.

The Gerudo picked up Link's sword and bag and walked to the door. "Oh, by the way, Dark Link says hi." She left after that comment. Link didn't eat, this time actually feeling the ache of actual sleep deprivation. He didn't care at this point, though, why should he?

**-----**

The months wore on quickly. Sometimes, when he awoke, he would find the strange Gerudo in the cell, watching him, talking of how Zelda was doing without him. Other times he would see Fayette quickly leaving. Once, he even saw Dark Link, who took no time in starting to gloat about Link's predicament. Instead of food, Dark Link had brought a jug with him filled to the brim, as Link could easily see. He surrendered it quickly enough and was delighted when Link drained it, only to find out that it was saltwater.

He lost track of time quickly, and relied on the first Gerudo to tell him what month they were in. Of course, this changed almost every time he fell asleep. Soon enough, she told him that the year was almost up and he would shortly be released into the Wasteland.

**-----**

"Wake up!" a voice shouted, rousing Link from his drug-induced slumber. He noted that it was daytime and found that his feet were unbound. Quickly rising, he walked to the Gerudo who had woken him. She led him out of the cell and into the center of the Fortress, where a group of Gerudos had assembled.

"See this pitiful excuse for a man? This is what we wanted as our King! We were ridiculous to think such, and now we end our mistake by ending his life!" There was a cheer at this point. Link watched as his sword was passed forward to him. "He will be sent into the Wasteland as a final punishment!"

At this remark, several Gerudos rushed forward and grabbed Link, hoisting him into the air. They started walking to the gate that led into the deep desert, the Haunted Wasteland. The procession stopped at the gate and he was set down and shoved forward. As he fell to the sand, the gate clanged shut behind him. There were numerous shouts and cheers as he stood up and stumbled deep into the desert.

The sand lashed at him, tearing across his face and chest. His legs soon became scarred as well, each piece of tiny sand tearing a new mark across him. He found that his sword was useless in this raging wind. He was soon lost, and found that he had been stumbling about in no ordered manner.

Suddenly, at the corner of his eye, he saw a robed figure far into the distance. He ran toward it, hoping that whoever it was knew a way out. However, it seemed to mock him, dashing forward every time he got close. It was almost like a painful game of tag, except that Link was in no condition to be 'it' right then.

He soon discovered that the figure was not toying with him. He felt the wind lessen, felt the heat weaken. He spent what felt like the next week walking, following the robed figure. Soon enough, he saw a point where the wind actually died down, where the desert ended. The figure was still as Link approached.

"Thank you," he whispered, his voice hoarse, as they looked down the cliff to the Zora River.

"Do not thank me. It was your own power that led you here. I merely provided the means. Now go, your Queen awaits you."

Link nodded and watched the robed figure disappear into the swirling sands. He jumped into the river below, ignoring the sting of the water upon his sandy body. Floating to the other edge, he crawled out onto dry land and slept, worn from the desert.

**-----**

When Link next awoke, he found that he looked even worse than he had before. Many of his cuts were visibly infected, and blood was still oozing out of half of them. Ignoring this revelation, he made his way across the now-forgotten Hyrule Field, making his way toward the castle.

The way was remarkably uneventful. The town was deserted, unusual for this time of the year. He wound his way to the castle, where Zelda was. He crossed the bridge and pushed the doors. Having long forgotten how strong he was, the doors slammed open and Link stumbled in, his adrenaline wearing thin.

(-)

Zelda was shocked to see the strange person burst in. He had collapsed onto the ground as soon as he had come in, and even though Zelda had only caught a glimpse of the person, it was obvious something had happened. He was scratched and bleeding and looked like he had just fought against the very earth itself. She ordered doctors to the stranger at once.

The doctors picked up the stranger and carried him to Zelda. She examined the man, noting the fact that he was covered in sand and wore only a piece of fabric around his waist. She looked at his face, which evoked strong memories of her lost Link, who had vanished after defeating Ganon. Suddenly, she noticed the blade strapped to his back and gasped.

"Doctors! See that this man is treated immediately!" she ordered with such an intensity that even the doctors were startled. "See that he gets the best medical treatment available."

"But, your Highness, it would cost a fortune-"

"Money is no concern of mine. Empty the coffers if you have to. I want to see this man at full health as soon as possible." The doctors hurried off and she turned back to the crowd that was in the castle. Moments before, she had been discussing repayment to the shop owners and farmers for their willing service to Hyrule. Now, all of this seemed momentarily forgotten.

"This meeting will have to be... rescheduled," she said, barely able to choke the words out. There was a jump in the merchants' mumbling as Zelda dashed out of the room.

**-----**

"I'm sorry, your highness, but I cannot allow you in there," the doctor said, blocking the way. "The person has requested that no one is to enter. He told me that he'd run me through if I didn't comply."

"You've met Impa, yes?"

"On several occasions, my Queen."

"And you've never seen her mad, correct?"

"No, your highness."

"Would you like to?"

The doctor quickly moved, granting Zelda entrance to the room where the person was being treated.

Zelda entered and walked over to the bed where Link was lying, asleep. She inwardly sighed, seeing the many scratches and abrasions that covered his body. She placed a hand gently on his arm, wishing that there was something she could do to help. If she knew anything about medicine, she would be helping, but right now she would only hinder the doctors.

She felt him shift. His head turned to look at her, and something seemed to register. "Z-Zelda?" he muttered, his voice raspy.

"Yes, Link, it's me," she said reassuringly.

"No... Go... Don't want... you to see... me like this... See me... weak..." Every word sounded strained, as if it had been years since he last spoke an actual sentence.

"You're never weak to me," she responded as Link exhaled sharply. "We've got the best doctors here, the best treatments that exist. You'll be better in no time."

His eyes looked at her, but instead of his usual gaze in her direction, his eyes seemed glossed over, as if he was seeing through her, seeing something that was not there. "I promised... I gave my word... that I would come back... for you... I'm sorry... that it took so long... So much... has to have changed... I didn't mean... to make you wait... so long... They said... you gave up... the Ocarina... why..?"

"Save your strength. You need it. We can talk when you get better." She ran her fingers through his hair, finding that his hair was just as coated with sand as the rest of him was. "I've got to go now, but I'll come back and visit." Link only nodded. She turned and left the tiny room.

As she left, Link heard the faint sounds of a curtain rustling. A familiar figure entered, although Link could not place name with person. Whoever it was walked over to Link, stopping at exactly where Zelda had stood. A gloved hand came to rest at the precise spot where Zelda had done the same.

"Be calm, Link," the soothing voice said, "be calm and rest. Tonight you will find that there are worse things than death, but tomorrow you will rejoice in life. Sleep now, sleep and dream. You will feel pain, worse than you've ever felt, worse than you'll ever feel. My powers are limited, and so your strength will have to help. Sleep, Hero of Time, sleep and heal."

A warm glow radiated from the gloved hand. The warmth spread through Link, and suddenly he felt like he was being barraged by the sand again, except this time they were tiny chunks of molten lava. The lava bit into his skin, melting onto him. He stumbled across the acrid wasteland, the lava burning into him, cauterizing his body. He saw now that it wasn't lava, it was fire, tiny balls of fire, hotter than the hottest magma. The wasteland vanished, and he found himself above a volcano, teetering on the edge, mere seconds from walking off of the rim. Those seconds passed, and he took a step, plummeting forward into the volcano. He felt the liquid rock rush over him, freezing him to the bone. He watched as the magma lapped over him, coating him in a layer of ice. Slowly, he sunk into the volcano, pulled by some strange force. The block of ice slowly melted away, each droplet of water burning into his flesh, as if eating holes into his skin. The water ate away at his skin, his last protection. Suddenly, the water disappeared, replaced by drops of red. The red drops that issued forth from where the water had been sunk into his skin as well, sending spasms of pain coursing through him, as if being shot by hundreds of Light Arrows all at once. He tried to shout, but instead of words, a bubble of darkness floated out and popped, spreading the darkness around him, worse than any darkness that he had ever seen. The darkness seemed to eat at him, gnawing on his frail form. The agony was so terrible that he could no longer stand it; he surrendered to the tormenting darkness...


	6. Tricks Up Her Sleeve

**A/N: Yay! My first review! I have written some more for you to read and thank you four the compliments. I also wish to acknowledge that in the previous chapter, I mentioned the Skull Hammer. Well, in Ocarina of Time, it was actually the _Megaton_ Hammer Link had. For those who noticed that, there ya go, I'm sorry. Well, in the next three chapters, the plot for this story is actually developed! So there!**

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter Six - Tricks Up Her Sleeve**

About noon the next day, Zelda decided to drop in, like she had said she would. However, when she got there, Link was nowhere to be found. Worried, she looked around the room for some hint as to where he went.

"Hey! That's my favorite sword!" a knight yelled. His shout echoed into the room, causing Zelda to look out the window and down on the soldiers' training grounds. Below her were three men, locked in combat, each one fiercer than the next. The first attacked the second, trying to disarm him. The second seemed to find this funny, as he laughed and sent the man spinning around to the ground. The third, a new sword in hand charged the second, and Zelda couldn't help but laugh as his attack, too, was repelled. She turned to the door.

**(-)**

The second knight growled. "You're pretty tough, you know, especially considering you're an unknown warrior."

"The secret ones are usually the best," Link replied.

The first nodded. "Well, here goes." He stepped forward, sword and shield ready. Link attacked first and the knight bounced his blow off of his shield. Link took this in stride, bringing the hilt of the Master Sword up and over, crashing into the shield. He spun the sword counterclockwise, jamming the blade between the shield and metal-backed gloves. The first knight smiled, thinking he now had the upper hand, literally. He brought his own sword to hit Link, but Link twisted the Master Sword, forcing the knight's shield to block the blow. With a jerk, the Master Sword popped out from between the shield and glove. The knight swung again and Link blocked with a swing of his own. The swords collided and each locked onto the guard of the other sword.

Suddenly, a third sword slammed into the other two, causing them to release the other. Link drew back as the new fighter slashed, the familiar sword slicing through the air with deadly speed. Link chuckled and swung upwards as the fighter, a person wearing a slightly edited guard uniform. The person's sword whistled through the air as it knocked Link's away from its trajectory. The next few minutes were like this, one attacking and the other easily defended. Both seemed like a perfect match in strength, except that each blow the stranger delivered seemed to be a touch stronger. Back and forth they went, neither saying a word, neither weakening.

"I got my money on the guard," one of the soldiers that had gathered said.

"You kidding? Look at that guy in the green. He's like a whirlwind. I'd hate to see him with two swords!"

Link and the guard ignored the soldiers' chatter, focusing instead on their fight. Each swing seemed aimed to where it would incapacitate the other in one hit, but it was always blocked, time and time again.

Link finally got the upper hand. Instead of defending with the Master Sword, he stuck it out to the side, his arm straight. Using the amazing footwork that all Kokiri children master, he spun and catapulted into the air, the sword spinning around him like a deadly saw. As soon as he started to fall, he angled himself downward, the Master Sword shining in the noontime sun, blinding all who looked at him. He brought the sword smashing down against the guard's sword, landed on his feet, and thrust upwards, sending the sword flying. Within moments, Link had placed the Master Sword at the guard's throat.

"Do you yield?"

"I yield," said the beautiful voice of the Queen of Hyrule wrapping itself around him.

Link nodded and sheathed his sword. The 'guard' took off the helmet, allowing her long, golden hair to fall freely about her armored shoulders.

"You know, I appreciate you taking it easy on me, but next time mind not toying with me as much?"

"Hold up," one of the knights said. "First, what in Hyrule are you doing down here, dressed as a guard no less, my Queen? Second, he was going _easy_ on you! No one can best you, and yet he was _toying_ with you?"

"I came here to see if he's back up to my expectations. And second, of course he was going easy on me. He is the best fighter anyone's ever seen, no exceptions."

"I bet the Hero of Time could beat him," a third knight commented.

"How long have you been a knight?" Link asked.

"Four months next week," he said proudly.

"Do you know the legend of the Hero of Time?"

"Aye, I do. It is one of my favorites."

Link drew the Master Sword once more and tossed it in the air. Catching it on the broad part of the blade, he offered the sword to the knight, who cautiously took it and stared at it in amazement.

"B-but this..." he stuttered, at a loss for words.

"This is the Master Sword, Evil's Bane, the sword that not only sealed Ganon in the Dark Realm, but slaughtered him in the Battle for Hyrule. I am wielder of this blade, known as the Hero of Time, Sage-Blessed, Friend of the Giants, Dreamweaver, Controller of the Seasons, Manipulator of the Ages, and Saving Grace of the Goddesses. I am Link of the Last Charge."

The knight, visibly surprised, handed the sword back, which Link sheathed.

"You know," Zelda commented, "you seemed to have picked up a few new titles."

"Well, I've always been Hero of Time and Sage-Blessed. Friend of the Giants came from a Terminean I ran into in the Market. Dreamweaver is something I thought up because of the Koholint bit and the Wind Fish. The Controller of the Seasons and Manipulator of the Ages come from where I can still sometimes harness the powers of the Oracles from where I rescued them. Saving Grace of the Goddesses came from a newspaper clipping I found about the war. And the Link of the Last Charge was how I was introduced to a few friends of this guy who I literally ran into."

"You've been a bit active today, I see. Up for a bit of Marketing again?" Zelda inquired as she led him away from the knights.

"Won't you be recognized?"

She only smiled. Suddenly, as if someone spread person-like wallpaper on her, her entire appearance shifted to that of someone that looked vaguely familiar, but not enough so he'd know who it was.

"That's creepy," Link replied. "Can you look like anyone?"

"Yeah, but the image gets a bit distorted if it's a male."

"What about non-Hylians?"

The person shimmered away and was replaced with a Zora woman, her dress shifting in a breeze that was not there.

Link was shocked at the almost perfect rendition of Lulu that for a moment, he wished that he had thought ahead and had turned into Mikau, even though the Gerudo had shattered his Zora Mask.

"You like?" Lulu-Zelda asked, her fins seeming to shift at something.

"Quite the similarity, but when did you see Lulu?"

"Indigo-go concert a few years back. Snuck out and went to see it."

"Ah."

Lulu-Zelda seemed to be considering something, her violet gaze running up and down Link. After a second she nodded and smiled a bit.

There was a tingling sensation that spread across Link's body. As if someone had draped a thin tablecloth over him, his vision was slightly obscured, but only for a moment as the feeling faded slightly.

"What did you just do?" Link asked.

Lulu-Zelda smiled a bit and led Link over to a small pond. He looked in and found that a Goron stared back at him. He backed away quickly, surprised.

"What do you think?" Lulu-Zelda asked. Link noted that her voice sounded astonishingly like Lulu's had.

"I think I'm ready to go to the Market."

"As a Goron?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Don't you think it'd be a bit strange, a Goron taking a Zora shopping?"

"Well, I guess..." Link felt the tingling again. Taking a look in the pond, he saw that the rocky Goron skin had been replaced with the shiny Zora scales. "You know, it's strange. I feel like I could use a swim, even though the Zora thing's just an illusion, right?"

"Sort of. It's a lot like a second skin." Lulu-Zelda started to walk around the pond, explaining exactly how it worked to Link, with no notable success.

As she walked, she seemed to get lost in her explanation because the next step she took sent her falling forward. Link discovered that this 'skin' gifted him with several Zora traits, which he used to lunge across the pond and grab the falling Zelda, turning and landing on his back, Lulu-Zelda on top of him.

She stood up and helped Link to his feet. "Thanks. Wasn't paying attention, I guess. Not quite used to Zora forms."

"Well, if that's the case, then I think it would be smart if we went as regular Hylians, just in case."

Lulu-Zelda nodded and instantly, the Zora vanished, replaced by an average person that looked enough like Zelda so that Link would know it was her, but not enough so that anyone else would.

"You know, I think this new power of yours is fascinating," Link said, walking with her out of the castle.

"Thank you," she replied, a slight blush fading in and out of the illusionary form.

Link smiled and walked into the town, becoming just an average person on the street, another average person on his arm.


	7. A Day On The Town

**Chapter Seven - A Day On The Town**

'Link' and 'Zelda' entered the town unnoticed. They calmly strolled around the busy square, looking at the hundreds of stalls that sold everything from common milk to the supposedly rare Seashells that were from 'a distant land' as the seller put it. Link laughed and joked freely, often pointing out which stall's merchandise was obviously fake or really not worth the Rupees it cost to get it here to Zelda, who took it all in stride, attempting to learn all of what Link told her.

"This," Link said, lifting up a small orange seed, "is a Scent Seed. These babies stink when they break, so you have to handle them properly. I used to have a hundred or so, but I left them with the Maku Tree after saving the Oracles." He set the seed back down and looked at some of the other items. He picked up several things, one after another, and set each back down, muttering "fake" just loud enough for Zelda to hear.

She smiled at the pale look on the trader's face after Link took a long hard look at a small box. Link looked up at the trader, box in hand, and proceeded to ask him if he had crafted this himself.

"No, sir, I got it from a man named Vasu," the trader replied nervously.

"Oh really? I met Vasu, nice man. He's currently holding onto my box for me. You know, traditional 5-Ring Box."

"You have a 5-Ring Box? Then why the interest in this 3-Ring?"

"Well, it was mine before I got my 5-Ring."

Zelda probably could have stolen all of the trader's things and he wouldn't have noticed. His sole attention was fixed on Link and also Link's sword, which Zelda had incorporated into his 'appearance.'

"I see," the trader said after a bit. "I assume, then, that you want it back?"

"No, you can keep it. I have a 5-Ring Box anyway."

"Oh, well, thank you, kind sir." The trader bowed and Link walked off, Zelda following.

After a second, Link chuckled. "You know, I probably could have made him wet himself if I had drawn my sword."

"Probably," Zelda replied, stifling a laugh. "So, is this what you do in the Market, terrorize poor merchants?"

"No, it's the rich merchants I love going after. Speaking of which," Link added, his gaze following a man into a house, "wanna come help out a bit?"

"Sure."

Link walked calmly and knocked on the door. There was a whispered murmuring and a voice shouted, "We're not open yet!"

Link knocked twice more, counted to five on his fingers, then leaned against the door. "Twenty million Rupees," he whispered.

The door unlatched and the door swung open. A burly man with coal black hair stood at the doorway. "Ah, new friends of good ol' Link, eh? Come in, come in." He ushered them into the building and shut and latched the door. After doing so, he turned to the two of them. "Now, what can humble ol' me do for ye?"

"Haven't changed a bit, have you, Carl?" Link asked.

"Not a bit," Carl responded. "Take a seat, take a seat. Make yerselves at home."

Link and Zelda sat at one of the small tables as Carl hurried off. Zelda took this time to quiz Link.

"Who's he?"

"He's an old buddy of mine. He used to live a bit southeast of here, but then he came up here after I saved him from a Skulltula invasion."

"Skulltula invasion?"

"Yeah. Two hundred armored Skulltula, each four times as big as me. He moved up here after that and I drop by now and again."

"What's with the password?"

"That's how much he thinks he owes me for saving his house and stuff."

"Ah."

At this point Carl reappeared. He walked over and pulled up a chair. "So, what's brought ye down 'round these parts?"

"Looking for something to do. Heard you were the man to go to," Link said.

"Aye, that'd be me. Man with the Plan, Fun-Time Carl. So, what sort of fun ye looking for?"

"Aph, that'd be your part," Link said, turning to Zelda.

She sighed inwardly. He thought they needed new names and insisted on 'Aph' and 'Heph' for reasons unknown.

"Er, um, I haven't the foggiest idea," she responded truthfully.

"Well, how about some of the more unique stalls? Oh, and a stop by the Grounds, of course," Link suddenly answered.

"Ye sure? And ye want her to come too?" Carl asked, wary.

Link stood, pretended to notch a nonexistent bow with a fake arrow and let fly the arrow. "Twenty fell one."

Carl seemed surprised at this, and looked at Zelda with a newfound respect. "Well, then, I guess that sounds to be a plan."

**-----**

Carl soon led them to a deserted part of Hyrule Castle Town, leaving all of the hustle and bustle back behind them. Down one dark alley after another Carl went before stopping at a small building. He knocked three times in rapid succession, then twice more. In response, the door swung open.

Inside the house a trader had set up shop, and his merchandise was everywhere. He had a touch for the exotic, as proven by the strange things that Zelda had never seen inside Hyrule before. Link moved forward into the shop, followed by Zelda and Carl.

"Ah, Carl!" the trader exclaimed. "Thought that was you. What brings you down here?"

"Friends of Link wanted to take a look at some 'unique' wares. Where else?" he responded.

Link scanned the items, hoping to find something of value. It was not hard, but Link preferred stuff that worked good than stuff that worked decent. He picked up a few things but, finding nothing too interesting on this side of the shop, turned to go to the other half. As he did so, he saw Zelda buying something, although what it was he had no clue. He scanned over the merchandise and shrugged. Quickly popping back up at Zelda's side, he watched Carl wave goodbye at the trader and leave, the two of them following.

Carl looked at the sun, which was just barely starting its downward fall in the sky. He sighed, as if realizing something.

"What?" Link asked.

"All the good shops don't open until dusk. You two still wanting to go to the Grounds?"

"Yeah!" Link exclaimed, his excitement radiating from him, even causing Zelda to jump on the band wagon and join in.

"Well then, let's go!"

**-----**

Link and Zelda, still disguised, collapsed on the ground under a large oak tree. They had spent the last five hours trying to best each other in countless contests, ranging from who can hit the farthest tree with an arrow to who can run the fastest to even a staring contest. The Grounds, after all, were designed to instill competition into its visitors, and it certainly worked its magic on Link and Zelda.

Zelda laughed and turned her head to look at Link. "You know, just because you can shoot better while riding a horse doesn't make you any better than me at marking a tree."

"Agreed, but being able to shatter twice as many pots as you while riding a horse does make me better at racing on a horse, now doesn't it?"

"That was a fluke. If I had my warhorse..."

"If you had your warhorse, I'd have had Epona, and I still would have won." At the mention of Epona, Link sighed. "You know, I miss Epona. I wish we could find her."

"I'm sorry, Link. We looked for her as well as you, but we couldn't find anything. I don't see how she could have vanished, though."

"She'll pop up soon, I'm sure." Link leaned against the tree and looked at the town that sprawled out in front of him. "So much has changed. I can't believe I missed an entire year of Hyrule's development."

"A year?" Zelda asked, confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"After I defeated Ganon, the Gerudo captured me. After I tried to escape, they threw me in their prison. That's where I was for the past year."

"That can't be true," Zelda replied, thinking quickly. "A month ago you rode with me into that battle."

"What?" Link responded, taken by surprise.

"You've only been missing a month."

Link made some sort of unintelligible sound and sighed once more. "Well, they had me convinced that I had been there a year. They convinced me of a lot of things..."

"Like what?" Zelda shifted her body so that she was facing Link, who seemed worn out from the thought of the Gerudo.

He seemed hesitant. "It's... shameful. I can't believe they managed to do it..."

"What did they do?" Zelda noticed his delay in answering her and placed his left hand in her hands. "Link, you know you can tell me anything, right? I'll believe you, and I won't judge you, I promise."

"They had me convinced that you had given up on finding me. That you didn't love me anymore. That you hated me, for lying to you and breaking my promise..." He didn't look at her, instead staring at the ground.

"Link... I love you, and I always will. I will never hate you, even if you break each and every promise you've ever made. And I never gave up hope. Each and every day I sat at my window, scanning Hyrule for any sign that you would return."

"They had the Ocarina. What was I supposed to believe?"

"The Ocarina of Time?"

"Yeah. They said that you had given it to them, along with a bunch of my other stuff. They said that you had given it to them just to prove that you didn't care about me anymore. I held it, Zelda, I held the Ocarina, _our_ Ocarina, and I couldn't feel your presence. I thought that you had abandoned me..."

"I never gave them anything, and I never abandoned you. I won't ever abandon you, Link. They probably copied it and pretended it was the real Ocarina. The second I heard you were missing, I found the Ocarina with your stuff. I haven't let it out of my sight since then. I didn't want anything to happen to it, so when you came back, it would be here for you. I feel connected to you when I have the Ocarina; I always have."

"Thanks," Link whispered.

Zelda smiled. "Remember, you will always be in my heart, no matter the distance, no matter the obstacles. We will always be together."

"Always," Link iterated. Thinking for a second, he stood up, helping Zelda up as well. "You have the Ocarina with you?"

"Of course." From wherever she kept her things, having no evident pockets, she produced the cyan Ocarina of Time, which seemed to glow with a faint golden light. Carefully, Link took it from her and played six notes.

There was a whinny and Epona ran up to Link, who was delighted. He mounted Epona with the speed and grace that Zelda had yet to match and extended a hand to help Zelda on. She took it and in a matter of moments, Link, Zelda, and Epona bolted across the outer town and onto Hyrule Field, where a whole new adventure would soon take place.


	8. Here We Go Again!

**Chapter Eight - Here We Go Again!**

Link, Zelda, and Epona rode across the plains, each happy for his or her own reasons. Zelda was glad to have Link back, glad that they could be together again. Epona was happy to run, Link with her, as it had been. Link was just happy to be back. Together, the three of them bolted across the expanse enjoying the sunny day. It was about two in the evening, so the sun was still present, but bearable. Epona galloped up a small rise and evidently decided she was done carrying them, as she playfully bucked, spilling Link and Zelda to the grass below. They rolled down the hill, jumbling together. The bottom of the hill came and left them a pile of entangled limbs. Link and Zelda couldn't stop laughing as they unsuccessfully attempted standing up, ending up back on the ground in an even worse heap.

Zelda suddenly jerked herself out, literally sending Link for a spin as he flipped around for half a second before landing back down. He laughed as well and rose to his feet. Spontaneously, Link bolted toward Zelda, who shouted playfully and ran. Link ran after Zelda for several minutes before lunging at her and colliding with her, his arms and legs latching onto her. She and he plummeted to the ground once more, both laughing and trying to pin the other down. Link quickly gained the upper hand, righting himself and pushing Zelda below him to the soft grass. She, however, used the rolling momentum to continue going, throwing Link over her and stopping with her holding him down.

"Ha. Pinned ya," she announced exuberantly, delighted with the fact.

"Not gonna let me just get up, are you?"

"No way! You gotta do something for me."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"I," she started, poking him in the chest with her right index finger, "want you to-"

Suddenly, the entire world shifted, leaving them in a plain where no life flourished. The only things around them were monsters that existed only in terrifying nightmares. The sky went black and the sun was blotted out, though they could still see. As quickly as it had happened, the scene vanished, replacing Link and Zelda on the normal Hyrule Field.

"L-Link?" Zelda gasped, struggling for words. "Wh-what just h-happened?"

Link stood slowly, glancing around. "Zelda, take Epona and get back to the castle," he said in the same voice he would have used if Volvagia appeared.

Zelda had never heard him say something in that tone, so she just stood there, terrified. Link drew his sword slowly and looked around, as if trying to find his adversary. After a minute or two Link cried out in rage, a deep guttural sound issuing forth as he hurled the sword at the ground. He sighed, took a few deep breaths, and uprooted his sword from the earth, returning it to the sheath in which it belonged. He turned back to Zelda and Epona, a look of both worry and hatred on his face. Silently, he jumped up on Epona and helped Zelda up. They galloped back to Hyrule Castle Town, thundering across the drawbridge.

Their speed drew stares from the crowd that followed the two with their eyes as they flew through the town with amazing speed. Link only slowed Epona when they reached the castle's stables. He dismounted, helped Zelda off, and made sure Epona was properly taken care of. Zelda tried prying answers from Link as they walked into the castle.

"Link, what happened out there?" Silence was her response as she increased her speed to keep up with Link. "Okay, then what's with the rush? Mind telling me where that was?" Link said not a word as he turned corners and skirted through corridors.

Zelda, fed up with not getting answers, slid in front of Link, causing him to stop. "Link, tell me what's going on," she demanded.

He seemed to snap out of whatever trance he had been in. "You want to know what happened? That place you saw, that's the Dark World, the Sacred Realm. I've been there before; it's not a nice place. I had to live there for quite some time when Agahnim kidnapped you and the Sage Maidens to bring Ganon back. We're rushing so I can figure out what's going on. Somehow, the Dark Realm just overwrote Hyrule, if only for a second. It takes amazingly powerful magic to do that; stuff not even Agahnim and Ganon could do combined. Whatever's causing this must be stopped, or else all of Hyrule will be absorbed into the Dark Realm, which would be very, very unfortunate and not really anywhere near a decently good idea."

Zelda fell back into step with Link. "Why did you get so mad out there?"

"I hate the Dark Realm even worse than I hate Ganon. It's a vile place where evil beings like Ganon are almost commonplace. I've hated it ever since I found out about that."

Zelda thought for a second, putting two and two together. "It's where he was born, isn't it?"

Link nodded, opening the doors to the library.

**-----**

For the next week or so, Link was rarely seen outside the library. Every time Zelda went to help, she could only elicit grunts and monosyllable answers to questions she asked. She would help get books and put away books, but he never once told her what he was looking for. Pretty soon, though, she found out.

It was a normal day. Zelda was shelving a stack of books Link had just torn through. Suddenly, he shouted in excitement, causing her to drop the books. She slid down the ladder and sped over to where Link was sitting, hastily reading a page in _A Handy Guide to Forbidden Sorcery_.

"Listen to this," he said upon her arrival. " 'This world has countless worlds and realms, each as different as the next. Very rarely do any worlds ever cross over and even rarer do any two worlds interact with one another. However, there has been discovered an exception to this rule. The Sacred Realm is the current resting place for the golden Triforce, a symbol of eternity to many inhabitants of one plane of existence. In fact, the Triforce is the symbol of worship, the link to the Goddesses, for a country known as Hyrule. This plane has a direct gate to the Sacred Realm, although it is now sealed. This gate is very unstable, however, constantly threatening to spill over its boundaries. Now that the seal has been erected, the gate cannot spill over. If it were to spill over, Hyrule would be in for a terrible fate. Many have heard the legends of the people who went through, never to return. Whatever the fate of these brave souls would be the fate of the entire land. If one were to open the gate, Hyrule could possibly, and most probably, be doomed.' "

"Well, that just sounds lovely. How long do you figure we have until the seal on this gate is broken?"

"That's the problem, Zelda," Link responded. "That gate hasn't been sealed since I was ten."


	9. A New Arrival to the Castle!

**A/N: Sorry! I took a bit longer on this chapter than I planned. BUT, you get three chaapters instead of just one! I will note that the third chapter is a bit short, though, but it's essential to the plot. Well, here ya go!**

**Chapter Nine - A New Arrival to the Castle!**

"It what? But I thought the book said-"

"It did," Link confirmed, "but this book was written around two centuries ago. The gate to the Dark Realm has two seals, both of which you are quite aware of. The first is a large door that can only be opened with the three stones representing the three Goddesses and a song played on an ancient artifact. The second seal is a sword placed in stone, which is similar to the seal placed on Vaati and the Four Sword. When I drew the Master Sword, that place allowed me, and Ganon, of course, to enter the Sacred Realm. Since I couldn't handle the power that the Master Sword contained, being Evil's Bane and all, I was trapped in the Sacred Realm. The rest I believe I don't have to fill you in on."

Zelda nodded. "If that's the case, then why is the gate starting to act up now?"

"Think of it this way. Let's say, for all intents and purposes, that you are in jail with your food locked in a chest. You want the food, but can't because I have the key. If I'm off away doing something, you will be upset about not getting the food, but also realize there's no way you're getting the key. However, if I'm in the room near the cell with the key, you're going to want that key very badly, especially since it's so close. I think it's the same way with the gate and the seal and such. The gate wants to open, but it's still sealed, kind of. In order to keep the gate sealed, the Master Sword has to be replaced into the pedestal, for a while at least. The seal's weakening and is trying everything it can to get the bearer's attention. And I think it just got it."

Link stood up and walked over to the door. "You want to come?"

"No, I think I've had just a bit too much of evil plots. You go ahead. It's just putting a sword in a slot."

Link nodded and pulled out the Ocarina of Time, the notes to the Prelude to Life drifting across the room, sending him flying toward the Temple of Time

The Temple of Time

Link landed abruptly in the Temple, noticing that nothing had changed. Sure, the Spiritual Stones had been moved, but they were still at hand if the Door of Time decided to shut, which, in reality, might be a good thing. Link shrugged and entered the Inner Chamber where the Master Sword rested before his adventures.

Drawing the sacred blade, Link brought it up and with one quick thrust, slammed it into the pedestal. Suddenly, the three triangles around him lit up, as if reacting to the Master Sword. As they had done on his first adventure, blue walls shot up around him and surrounded him. Suddenly, everything went black.

**-----**

Link awoke to find the Temple of Time around him, in horrid disrepair. The Master Sword was still in the pedestal, sparkling like new, throwing light onto the cracked walls. He stood up and walked into the main area.

The main area of the Temple of Time was just as bad. The three Spiritual Stones floated in the slots where Link had placed them in his travels, not where they had been moved to allow for ceremonies and services. The Stones themselves looked old and dim; the light that had shone from them had almost completely faded. Link silently walked past them and out into the town itself.

What Link next saw chilled him to his very bones. Before him spread Hyrule Castle Town, but it looked identical to the way it had when Ganon had taken over. There were no ReDeads, however, or any sign of life at all. Link waked through the town, his footfalls making the only noise. He hurried up to where the castle should be, only to find absolutely nothing there, not even rubble. It was as if the entire castle had been wiped off the face of Hyrule. Link, confused and worried, rushed out to Hyrule Field.

It was as he stepped into the Field that he realized what had happened. Somehow, he was in the Dark World. The beasts prowled everywhere, forcing Link to sneak by. He headed toward Kakariko, hoping to at least find someone who could help him.

Link was sorrowfully disappointed. There was only traces of the once-living there in the village, but any inhabitants had fled, or worse. Link walked into the houses, trying to find something he could use to defend himself from the monsters.

It was right after one of these ventures that Link witnessed something new. In the middle of Kakariko, a small child suddenly appeared from out of nowhere, as if transported here by the Goddesses themselves. Link walked slowly towards the child, who, he discovered, was crying. He walked toward her and noticed a peculiar fact. Even though it was evident that she was crying, the child did not make even the slightest noise. Link approached her and she looked up at him, her gaze penetrating his own. Her unblinking stare was fixated on him as she stood, stifling her noiseless tears. Somehow knowing that Link didn't wish her harm, she walked over to him and placed his left hand on her head. For that moment, the two stood there, both silent, Link's left hand atop the young girl's head. She slid out from under his hand, a smile starting to form on her face. Link, too, couldn't help but smile back. The girl then looked around, confused, and turned back to Link as if to ask where she was.

Link took her hand in his and led her forward, to one of the houses. As he opened the door, there was a deafening crack, as if the very earth had split in two. A white glow flared up in Link's vision, and as it cleared, he noticed that the world had changed once again, back into what Hyrule should be. Kakariko was lively again, as if nothing had happened. People continued about their own business, one or two people nodding at Link in a greeting as they passed by.

Link felt a tug on his wrist, and he turned to see that the girl was actually still there. She seemed to be excited, and started speaking, words spewing forth like a fountain that had been stopped up too long. Unfortunately, he understood none of what she was saying.

She seemed to realize this and started looking around, yelling to other people, hoping to find someone who could understand her. It took a few minutes, but an elderly man soon walked over and stared at her. She began to speak rapidly, and the man nodded. He looked up at Link and laughed.

"You don't understand a word of what she's saying, do you?"

"No, I don't. Clueless."

He nodded again and spoke in the girl's language, rattling off sentences almost as fast as she did. They talked for about ten minutes or so before the man looked back at Link.

"Here," he said, handing Link a small pendant. "Have this blessed by the priest, or monk, or acolyte, or whoever runs the place of worship for the people of your language. If you have multiple deities, it must be blessed by a different priest for each one, and they all must do so in this language, Hylian as I believe it is called. Once you have done so, she will speak the words I have taught her over it and anything she says will be translated to your language."

"Thank you," Link replied. "Is there anything I can do for you in return?"

"No thank you. I am old, and I have seen more of the world than you ever will, and because of that, I have everything I will ever need. Your offer is kind, though. Good luck with her." He bowed to Link and walked off in the opposite direction that he had come from.

"Strange..." Link shrugged and examined the pendant that he had been given. It was a small gem hung from a simple chain, but the gem, which seemed to pulse red, was nowhere near simple. Intricate patterns had been cut into it, causing a dazzling effect when the light hit it. The girl seemed oddly cautious of the pendant and was on her guard until Link put it in his pocket. She regained her excitement and tried to pull him along, then remembered that she had no idea where she was. Link nodded, smiling, and led her out of Kakariko.

Within a few minutes, the two of them stood before the Temple of Time, restored to its colossal beauty. They walked in and saw one of the servants of the Goddesses walk briskly toward him.

"Can I help you with anything?" the man asked, looking at Link, then at the girl, then back to Link.

"A blessing is all I ask," Link replied, removing the pendant from his pocket.

"Ah, an artifact for Din?" the man asked, noting the red color.

"For Din, and Farore, and Nayru as well. I wish that this pendant be given the mightiest of blessings, as it is a powerful magical item, if it works as it should."

The man nodded. "Your wish is ours to see through, servant of courageous Farore," the man responded, bowing, his dark blue robes shifting as he bent back up and walked away, followed by Link and the girl.

The man turned to two other men, one in forest green robes that almost matched Link's tunic, and the other in a scarlet-toned robe. They noticed the pendant and rose to their feet.

"An artifact of Din?" the one in red asked.

"Nay, an artifact of the Goddesses, all of them," the man in blue replied.

"And it requires what?" the one in green questioned.

"Blessings. The Hero of Time has said that it is a powerful magic artifact and he would appreciate the blessings of the Goddesses to help it function properly."

The two nodded and walked over to the man in blue. Link placed the pendant on a pedestal and backed away. The man in red stood in front of the object and lifted his head to the roof of the Temple.

"Mighty Goddess, Almighty Din, I ask you to send your blessings of fire and power to this item. May you steer its user safely and unharmed. In your presence, in the presence of the Goddesses of the Triforce, I ask you to bestow your blessings of fire and power. May your power be ours."

He stepped back and watched the pendant, as if waiting for something. Whatever it was, he didn't see it, so he backed up to watch the next man, the man in green, priest of Farore, placed his hands upon the chain of the pendant, also lifting his head to the roof.

"Brave Goddess, Bold Farore, I ask you to send your blessings of life and courage to this item before me. May its user be protected from any malevolent forces that may exist in this pendant. Bestow your blessings upon this, I ask of you. May your courage be ours."

The man nodded his head and stepped back, quickly replaced by the third man, the servant of Nayru. He stood as the other two had.

"Knowledgeable Goddess, Enlightened Nayru, please endow this gift with your wisdom. May it benefit the wearer as it has your chosen ones. Let your wisdom fulfill this artifact's ability, let its uses become perfect, free from impure forces. I ask you, bless this. May your wisdom be ours."

He bowed his head and stepped back, waiting for Link to take the pendant. However, Link lifted the little girl up to the pendant. She placed both of her hands above the gem and spoke, her words echoing in the Temple, in a voice that did not quite seem her own. It seemed almost animal in nature, though it was clearly pleasant. As she finished, she placed both her hands on the gem at the same time, causing the gem to glow a bright white color. It flashed red, then green, then blue, then all color faded from it entirely, causing the etches to stand out further. She smiled and put it on.

"Well?" Link asked.

"It worked!" the girl shouted happily, leaping into Link's arms, hugging him fiercely. She laughed, her raucous roar filling the entire Temple with the echo of herself, causing her to laugh more. Link joined in, unexplainably happy. Soon enough, the two of them stopped, but only for lack of breath. Link thanked the three priests and rushed out of the Temple, carrying the girl. They only slowed as Link entered Hyrule Castle Town, aiming for the castle itself.

"So, tell me about yourself. I don't even know your name yet."

"I'm Elissa!" the girl announced proudly. "I was born in, in..." She seemed to be struggling to remember, but it seemed to escape her, because she just shrugged. "Well, I'm Elissa, and that's all I wemember. Is that okay?"

"That's just fine," Link responded. "We'll fill that little noggin of yours with memories soon, enough, trust me."

"That sounds fun!" she exclaimed, her words not quite sounding right, as many small kids' words don't. This however, didn't stop her from talking. In fact, it seemed to inspire her to talk more.

"So, who are you?" she asked, her wide eyes turning to look up at Link.

"Me? I'm Link. I save the day around here a lot."

"Oh, rweally? You're a weal life hewo?"

"I guess you could say that," he replied, his smile broadening at Elissa's responses. He opened the door and suddenly was slammed into by Zelda.

"Oh, thank the Goddesses that you're alive! I don't know what happened! It was like something just came and trapped me in a pitch black room. It was so scary."

"It's all okay now, Zellie. I put the Master Sword in the seal. Of course, that took me to the Dark World, but I found someone there."

Zelda seemed to just then notice the girl. "Oh? And who might you be?"

"I'm Elissa!" she shouted again, her eyes sparkling with happiness.

"Well, Elissa, I'm Zelda. It's nice to meet you."

"My pweasure!" she said.

"Link here didn't go off and snatch you away from your family, now did he?"

At that remark all of the joy seemed to vanish. "My mommy left a few yeaws ago and Daddy... Well, Daddy's gone, too."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Hey, want to go explore the castle?" Link offered.

"Okay!" she responded, the momentary sadness vanishing. She took off running past Zelda and into the castle.

"Link..."

"Zelda, I know. Be careful. She's a person. I found her in Kakariko during the Dark World shift. She just appeared out of nowhere, crying. Strangely enough, she seemed not to be able to make a sound. That was fixed when we switched back."

"And what's with that diamond around her neck?"

"I don't think it's a diamond. As for what it is, it's a pendant blessed by the Goddesses that lets her speak and understand Hylian. Nice thing. Very useful."

Zelda nodded and walked back into the castle with Link, both following the exuberant Elissa as she ran around. It seemed that they went into every room in that castle at least twice, but Elissa made it all worthwhile, always finding something odd or funny and giggling as she ran off, leaving Link and Zelda to chase after her. It was a fun game.

Elissa stopped in front of one large door. She tried to open it several times, but with no success. Zelda walked over to her, noticing her tries to get in.

"Need some help there?"  
"I think it's wocked."

"Probably. Here, let me have a go." Zelda placed her hand on the knob and concentrated, the magic that she had so readily harnessed while Link was away quickly flowing through her hand into the doorknob. Within seconds, there was an audible click and Zelda swung the door open.

"Yay!" Elissa started to rush in, but stopped and turned to Zelda. "You can do magic too?"

Zelda nodded. "Just a little bit, though."

Elissa seemed to readily grasp this idea as she darted into Zelda's room. Link turned to Zelda.

"You seemed to have picked up quite a few tricks while I was gone."

"Well, a month without you turns out to be quite a boring month, so I had to find something to do while I was watching for you."

"I see." Link followed Zelda into the room that Elissa was tearing through.

Elissa grabbed everything she could find; the things she hadn't ever seen before were taken to Link and Zelda for inspection. Due to the strange nature of Zelda's room, it seemed that Elissa was constantly finding something new. Link found it delightfully hilarious when Elissa opened Zelda's wardrobe. When she did so, Elissa found it full with clothes that she loved and that fit her. Of course, the first thing she did was grab one of the outfits and bring it to Zelda.

"Um, I don't think you'd fit in this," Elissa chimed, holding up the outfit that she had grabbed. "You're too big, see?"

"That's because you opened the doors," Zelda replied, walking to the mahogany wardrobe. "If I opened it, it would have stuff that fits me, not you. It's a special thing that can make any type of clothing you want to appear in any size you want in any color you want."

"And what happens to the stuff that's in there wight now if you close and open the door?"

"Er, I'm not quite sure. I've never tested it out. Maybe you and me can do some investigating later, okay?"

"Okay!" She turned away from the wardrobe and jumped into the next part of Zelda's room. When she jerked a bag out from under Zelda's bed, Zelda hastily dashed over there.

"Let's not mess with that," she said in a hurry, sliding it back under the bed.

Elissa shrugged and stood up, diving into another part of Zelda's room.

"What was that all about?" Link asked.

"What was what about?"

"That bag. You seemed to be pretty dead set against her getting it. What's in it?"

"Nothing for you to worry about," Zelda answered. "I'm allowed to have my own stuff, you know."

"I know," Link answered, taken aback at her tone and wondering what had made her snap out at him like that. "I was just asking."

"Well, I'll have-" Zelda's response was lost to the thought processes of Elissa, who suddenly ran screaming into the room. She had scampered off, it seemed, and now was clinging to Link, absolute terror on her face.

"What happened?" Link asked quickly, trying to comfort the girl.

"A man owtside says he wants to tawk with you. He's scawy..."

"Let's go see who it is, then." Link and Zelda, with Elissa behind them, walked out of the castle where Dark Link stood at the front of the gate, obviously mad.

"Link! Where is my sword?" he shouted as he came into view.

"I'm supposed to know? I thought I only had to keep track of your sword when you were trying to stick me with it."

"I found the sheath for it, but there was no sword! What have you done to it? I need that sword to kill you later!"

"Listen, you and I aren't going to fight anytime soon, at least not with swords. I don't have mine anymore."

"You what? What did you do with it!" Dark Link exclaimed, much to the surprise of Link. He seemed to care about Link's sword even more than his own.

"I put it back where I found it," Link replied, much to Dark Link's horror.

"You idiot! Why would you do that? When you did that it forced my sword along with it!"

"Well then, good riddance. Sounds like I finally did something right."

Dark Link started to say something, but his anger overcame words and he instead growled at Link and stormed away. Link watched him walk away, contemplating what else he had done by placing the Master Sword in its rightful place.


	10. Introductions

**Chapter Ten - Introductions**

"So, what are you planning on doing today?" Zelda asked as she stacked up the dishes on the table.

"Well, 'Lissa wanted to go to Death Mountain to see the 'rock-people.' I figure I'll introduce her to a few of them."

"I'm sure she would like that."

It had been almost a week since Elissa had appeared. Nothing at all had happened around the castle, which Zelda and Link took as a good sign. Link had spent much of the week showing Elissa around Hyrule, to the extreme pleasure of Elissa. So far, they had seen and met many of the Zora and Hylians, as well as everyone in Kakariko. Just yesterday, they had tromped through the Kokiri Forest. Elissa had been fascinated by the Kokiri and had spent most of the entire day playing with them. During this, Link had talked quite a bit to the Great Deku Tree.

_"Hroom," he had remarked. "And you are sure you can take care of her?"_

_"Zelda's helping," Link admitted. "Besides, I'm sure I'd do okay with her anyways. There's just something about her that makes her instantly likeable."_

_"Innocence," the Deku Tree replied. "With the Kokiri, I see it a lot. So far, the evils of the world have been hidden from her. She doesn't know what it means to lie, to sneak, to hide. This makes her a beacon, of sorts, to those who wish to be innocent, like her. That's also why I keep the Kokiri in here, so that the evils of the world are hidden."_

_Link nodded. "Makes sense."_

_Elissa had at this point ran to Link, jumping into his arms. "Yay!"_

_Link laughed and stood up. "Well, I guess I shall take my leave. Thanks again."_

_"No problem, my son," the Deku Tree replied. "I'm glad you thought to visit me."_

_"Of course. You're my father, whether I'm a Kokiri or not."_

_"And you shall always be a child of the forest, Hylian or not."_

_Link nodded again and took his leave, Elissa starting in on what Link had missed while he was talking to the 'big tree with a face.'_

"Link?"

Link snapped out of his reverie, glancing up at Zelda. "Yeah?"

"Didn't you hear what I said?"

"No, I guess not. Sorry, I was just thinking of our trip to the Forest yesterday."

"I see. Something important happen?"

"I talked to the Great Deku Tree, but beyond that, nothing much."

"Ah. Well, I had asked if you would mind if I tagged along today."

"That's just fine. You're welcome to come along anytime."

"Okay, just give me a minute to get ready."

Link nodded. "I'm gonna go get 'Lissa." With that, he walked up the stairs to the room between Link and Zelda's that Elissa had claimed. He knocked on the door, waiting for Elissa to respond.

She did so, quite abruptly. "Who is it?"

"It's me!" Link shouted.

"Link!" Elissa exclaimed, throwing the door open and rushing to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Well, good morning to you too," Link replied. "You missed breakfast, you know."

"I did?"

"Yeah, but that's okay. We can stop by the Goron City for a brunch. They serve a mean rock sirloin, you know."

"You want me to eat wocks? Ew! That's disgust-" She stopped mid-sentence, realizing that Link was saying that they were going to visit the Gorons. "You mean we get to meet the wocky peoples?"

"Yes," Link replied, trying not to laugh, "we get to meet the 'wocky peoples.'"

"Yay!" she shouted, rushing back into her room. Within seconds, she came back out, this time with a small brown backpack that Link had given her.

"I take it you two are ready to go?" Zelda remarked, walking to them.

"She's coming too?"

"Yeah. Zelda thought that she needed to get out of the castle for a while. You don't mind, do you?"

"The more the mewwier!" she replied.

Link laughed. "Maybe we'll dunk her in the lava later."

"Hey!" Zelda shouted, pretending to be offended.

Link and Elissa laughed as the three of them headed for the castle exit.

**-----**

"And you had to fight a big dwagon?"

"Yup! And I had to use a big hammer, too. I did it, though. The dragon's asleep now, and is probably going to stay that way for a good long while."

"And the wocky peoples got their tasty wocks back?"

"Yeah, although I didn't think they tasted too good. I'm not particularly fond of a heavy rock taste. Stone soup isn't bad, though."

"You ate soup with wocks!"

"Yeah, and it tasted okay. You know what, I'll ask one of the Gorons for one of their special stones and make you a batch, okay?"

"Okay!"

Link looked around the mountain and walked over to a large boulder. He knocked on it and slowly, it rolled away.

"Ah, Link!" the Goron said. "Come to visit for a while, goro?"

"Actually, yes. I'm here to drop by, show this little girl here around Death Mountain. She's fascinated by you guys."

"Oh? Tell me, goro, have you ever met a Goron before?"

"No, but you look fun!" she replied, walking over to the Goron. Is all those wocks comfy?"

"To tell you the truth, goro, not really. We get used to them, though, goro. They're stuck to our backs, you know, goro."

"Weally? Even if you pulled and pulled?"

"Even if I pulled and pulled," the Goron replied. "So, what's your name?"

"I'm Elissa!" she announced proudly.

"It's nice to meet you, Elissa-goro. I'm Link-goro."

"You're Link? I thought that he was Link," she said, pointing at Link.

"He is Link, goro. My dad named me after him, goro, because he saved us all from starving."

"Oh, okay! Can I meet your daddy?"

"I don't see why not, goro. Come on, goro, I'll take you."

Link the Goron, Elissa, Link the Hylian, and Zelda entered the tunnel behind the rock and followed it into the Goron City, which seemed a lot emptier than the last time Link the Hylian had been here.

"Where'd everyone go?" he asked after a moment.

"Most of everyone went home after the war, goro. My uncle Neosor is still here, goro, due to some strange quakes over in Subrosia."

"I see. So, the Subrosians are still here?"

"You can bet on it, darling," someone said from behind them. Link the Hylian spun around and saw a being wrapped in a yellow robe sauntering over to him, a bright red ribbon on her head and a large shining key around her neck.

"Oh, hi Rosa," Link managed to say as she came over.

"Glad to see you remembered me. I had hoped you would."

"Link? Mind introducing us?"

"Yeah! Who's the yellow-wobed lady?"

"'Lissa, Zelda, this is Rosa. Rosa, Elissa and Zelda. I met Rosa when I was rescuing Din from Onox. She's a Subrosian, you know."

"And proud of it!" Rosa responded. "I'm famous, by the way."

"Congratulations," Zelda replied.

"Thank you. Now, Link, about that second date you promised me..."

"What!" Zelda exclaimed suddenly.

"I never promised you a second date, Rosa," Link said quickly, trying to defuse the escalating situation. "I said that if you ever wanted to go somewhere else with someone, I would be there for a tiny while if you needed me. And besides, I can't go on a date with you, I'm with Zelda."

"Zelda? But Link, I'm famous!"

"Well, you're not quite as famous as me," Zelda muttered under her breath.

"What was that? I couldn't hear that over the echo of my last rousing cheer from my audience a few weeks ago."

"Zelda, Rosa, can we not do this right now?"

"Oh? And I suppose you could hear me if I brought the entourage that comes with me being Queen?"

"I don't know, being famous by actual talent can deafen you quite well."

"Well, at least I don't have to live on paychecks."

"No, I'd _much_ rather live off of the money taken from hardworking people that I got when my dad croaked."

"I'll teach you never to talk about my dad-"

"Zelda, Rosa! Stop it right now! Both of you," Link added, glaring at each of them. "I came here to have a fun time with Zelda and 'Lissa, not to listen to you two argue."

"Oh, so you went and ditched me to have a little daughter with the Queen."

"She might as well be," Link replied. He placed his left arm around Elissa's shoulder as she scooted closer to Link.

"Fine then, have it your way," Rosa replied, her voice icy cold. She turned and stormed away, turning down to the path that led to the heart of the volcano.

"Link-" Zelda started, but was interrupted by Link.

"Let's talk about her later. We came here to enjoy ourselves, so let's do so." Link glanced down at Elissa, indicating that he was afraid them arguing would upset Elissa.

Zelda nodded, understanding. "Okay. So, shall we continue?"

"Onward, goro!"

"Yeah, onward, gowo!"

**-----**

"Dad-goro, you in there?" Link the Goron asked, knocking on the large door that led to Darunia's quarters.

"Yeah, but I'd rather not be disturbed right now," Darunia thundered back.

Link the Hylian laughed. "Oh, come on, Brother! Be a little more hospitable!"

The door opened, revealing Darunia standing before them. "Brother, say 'hospitable' to me one more time and I'll bury you so deep in the Dodongo Caverns not even Dimitri and Biggoron together could dig you out."

Link laughed. "Trouble, I take it?"

Darunia moved to let the four of them in. "Like you wouldn't believe. With all the Gorons that stayed here, our food stocks are severely underestimated, our budget's practically gone, and a good deal of our crop is missing."

"You eat rocks and live in a mountain. How hard could it be to find food?" Link joked, knowing good and well that the gourmet rocks that they had grown accustomed to made it impossible for them to live off of anything else.

Darunia shrugged it off, instead changing the subject. "So, what have you been up to, besides being captured by the Gerudo?"

"Well, this little girl here wanted to meet you." At this, Link nudged Elissa forward.

"Ah, so you and the Queen finally decided to buckle down and start a family! Congratulations, although next time, do you mind informing me before she gets so old?"

Both Link and Zelda's faces looked almost as red as the magma in Death Mountain. "Er, um, that's not quite exactly how I'd phrase it..."

"Oh? And what would you call it?"

"That's not what I mean. 'Lissa here is a girl I found in the Dark World. I brought her home and she's kinda part of the Castle Group now."

"Castle Group? Making stuff up now, are we?"

"That's what I call us. Zelda, Impa, Sheik sometimes, 'Lissa, and I live at the castle, so that's how I say all that without saying that."

"Ah, so she's your _adopted_ daughter! I see."

"Close enough, though I think of her as more of a little sister."

Quickly growing bored with all this grownup talk, Elissa darted forth and jumped up on Darunia. "You can be my Unca Dawunia!"

Darunia laughed and lifted her up. "Works for me. So, I hear that you're interested in Gorons. Link, Zelda, mind if I borrow her for a while?"

"No, go ahead, we trust you. Just don't sit on her or anything, okay?" Zelda called after the two Gorons and Elissa, both rapidly leaving the room.

"Well, since 'Unca Dawunia' has taken off with 'Lissa, what shall we do?"

Zelda seemed to have lost the liveliness as Elissa left. "Link, I had a dream last night..."

Link instantly took a seat next to where Zelda had sat. "And?" He had learned that Zelda's dreams were eerily accurate when they concerned future events.

"I was standing on a large field. Everything seemed normal, but suddenly the field was on fire. The flames shot up around me as I ran, trying to escape the searing heat of the fire. I found cover in a forest, strangely enough. I hid in a cave while the fire roared above me.

"When the fire stopped, I stepped out of the cave to see what was left. The forest was intact, though it looked like it had been dead for several years. The field had been reduced to a wasteland, ashes everywhere. I walked through the field, coming to a small rise. As I approached the top of the hill, I saw a sword sticking into the ground.

I drew closer and came to the top. Next to the sword was a dead body, the left arm still holding onto the sword, the rest of the body on the ground, as if trying to stand up using the sword. Then I realized that the person was you."

"I see," Link replied thoughtfully, trying to figure out any hidden meanings or tricks that were also common in Zelda's dreams. Rarely were they this forward.

"Link, I just said that I saw you lying dead on a field and all you have to say is 'I see'?"

"For now, yes. And before you start, let me explain," Link said quickly, cutting Zelda off before she could argue. "There hasn't been a fire in Hyrule Field in years, and there's never been a fire that even touched the Kokiri Forest. Secondly, I don't have a sword anymore. I gave it up to reseal the Dark World. Thirdly, I don't plan on dying. Don't worry that much about this dream. I really don't want you worrying about me any more than you already do."

"Are you sure? This one seemed so real..."

"You know that it takes something insanely strong to injure me beyond a few cuts and scratches. Besides, I don't think death likes me."

"Insanely strong..." Zelda thought about that for a second and then reached a conclusion that she obviously didn't like.

"What?" Link asked, noticing the second dosage of worry that Zelda seemed to have.

"It takes something insanely strong to hurt you worse than a cut. That's what you just said, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Link, don't you see? Your scar, that's way more than a scratch."

"Agreed, but Dark Link's weaponless now as well. He can't do anything to me now, not unless something devastating happens in the next five seconds or so."

"Link!" Darunia shouted, bursting into the room. "You better get out here. You're _really_ not going to like this!"


	11. A Dark Wave

**A/N: All right, just to prepare you, the next chapter is in Link's Point of View, meaning, of course, that it's in the whole 'I' and 'me' format. I do this only because of the fact that thoughts are important. You'll get it.**

**Chapter Eleven - A Dark Wave**

"What?" Link asked, jumping up. Darunia grabbed him and pulled Link up to the exit to the Goron City. They walked outside and Link was instantly amazed. Amazed and terrified.

Hyrule seemed to be having some sort of strange disaster. Everything was flickering from the normal Hyrule to the Hyrule that Link knew as the Dark World.

"How... is this possible!"

"Ha! You want to know how?" the fiery voice of Koume shouted back as her and Koutake flew up to them. "It's because you're an idiot!"

"Shut up, Koume," Dark Link tossed back, walking into Link's view. He watched Link for a moment and then laughed. "Oh, what's this? Link, you've got a kid stuck to you. Might want to scrape it off before it becomes attached."

"Watch it, you annoying copy." Link placed a protective arm around the frightened Elissa, who had grabbed onto him for what she hoped would be a protection against whatever was going on.

"Getting all offended now, are we? She's a bit too old to be your own pitiful attempt at life. Find a little sister your mother abandoned? Oh, I forgot. That was _you_ she abandoned."

"She might as well be, though I never want to hear you say anything about my family again, got it?" There was a hidden flame in his voice that sounded strange compared to the normal Link.

"What, her own parents not good enough?" From the look on Link's face, Dark Link quickly gathered that something unfortunate had happened to them. "Oh! I get it! So the orphan decided to adopt another orphan!"

Link made an instinctive grab to where the Master Sword usually would be, yet found neither a blade nor a sheath. "Listen, you little ink spot, never, _ever_, say a single word about anyone I care about or I'll make sure you end up dead and stay dead, got it?"

"I think I got it. By the way, you might want this." Dark Link tossed a long box to Link. "Happy early birthday."

Link opened the box and removed the Master Sword, gleaming in the volcanic light. He was at first greatly relieved to have his sword back in his grasp, but then he realized that it meant that the seal was even worse off than before.

"You numbskull! This was the only thing left between Hyrule and complete annihilation!"

"I know. And, by the looks of it, there's not much time left before the Dark World consumes Hyrule." Dark Link pointed to a small dome-like area in the center of Hyrule Castle Town. "In mere moments, waves from that area will flood Hyrule, turning everything into its Dark World counterpart. Hope you like being a bunny!" he shouted to Link before vanishing, Koume and Koutake using their own magic to follow him.

"Oh, great. This is just great. Not only is the Dark World about to take over Hyrule, but the whole 'people become animals and trees' thing is still in effect!"

"You mean I'm gonna be stuck like a wabbit?"

"I'll figure something out."

"Um, Link? You have about three seconds to figure it out because I think that's the first wave!"

Zelda was right; a wall was spreading across Hyrule, making the changes permanent. The town fell apart, the field was decimated, the forest became old and wilted, even the Zora River slowed and partially dried. The wave rushed up to meet them on the mountainside. As the wave slid over them, everyone pulled up enough energy to say one last thing.

"No... Pwease, not again..."

"If I get turned into a tree, I'm going to bury those witches so deep in the Dodongo Cavern it'll take every single Goron in the world just to find them!"

"Link, remember me, okay? If I don't see you, remember me...

"Zelda, if I don't see you on the other side, I want you to know that I love you, and I always will..."

The darkness enveloped them.


	12. My Adventures in the Dark World Part One

**A/N: Ha! I have deposed Shadow as the writer and have now taken the glorious Pencil from him! This in MY tale and I shall tell it! Now, witness my tale of what _really_ happened that fateful day.**

**Chapter Twelve - My Adventures in the Dark World Part One**

**(-)**

_Is this truly to be my fate? Am I really destined to be a rabbit waiting for the day when I am skewered for a Moblin's meal? A tree, even, waiting for the woodsman's axe? Or am I going to be forced to-_

_Wait, what was I going to say? Something about an axe? An axe... Axe... What is an axe? What is a Moblin, then? Why is it so hard to remember..? Who was it I was supposed to meet? A girl, maybe? Hrm. Well, whoever it was will have to wait. I think I smell carrots, and I'm hungry. Wait, what are carrots?_

_DANGER!_

_Whoa, what was that? It was like something jumped out at me. Maybe a monster, whatever a monster is. Food, yes, food is good. Especially those orange things. Wait, what's orange? I think one of the other things said it to me once. Something about 'colors' or such, whatever those are._

_DANGER!_

_There it was again! It was huge! It looked almost like a tiny version of those things that chase me away from the good food. Food, yes, I need food. You know, I think I smell another thing like me around here. Yeah, there's the scent. Hrm, I wonder what she's doing later..._

_DANGER!_

_Whoa! That thing's more than huge! It's... it's... huge huge! Wait, it coming towards me! Is it... singing? Hey! It's trying to get me! Run! Run! Run! Run. Run. Run. Run run run run runrunrunrunru-_

**(-)**

There was a sudden rush of air as I landed, rather abruptly, on the dark ground. I stood up, brushing the dirt off of me and saw Darunia doing the same. 'Lissa was sitting next to a small white rabbit, which she was stroking. As she did so, she seemed to be singing a song, yet there was no sound. However, whatever it had been intended to do seemed to work, because she watched the rabbit hop a foot away before vanishing. Zelda reappeared suddenly from where the bunny had been.

Zelda looked at Darunia, then at me. She rushed over to me and threw her arms around my neck. Sliding my arms around her, I hugged her fiercely, glad that she was okay, even if she had been a rabbit. However, the moment was short-lived, because suddenly Darunia was standing next to us, He looked like he was shouting something, but honestly, I didn't hear anything.

"Erm, Darunia, I can't hear you," I noted. However, Darunia didn't even act like he had heard me, nor did Zelda. Zelda mouthed something and I realized what was going on.

"Like last time... 'Lissa could talk, I just couldn't hear her. I can't hear people, and they can't hear me, but I can hear myself."

I attempted to explain this to Zelda and Darunia using gestures and mouthing words, but it took the combined force of Zelda and I to even start to convince Darunia.

Suddenly, 'Lissa jumped up. She seemed to concentrate on something, then I heard something, a sound just too far away, almost like a whisper.

_"Guys! I figured it out! This place makes it so we can't talk to each other normally, but we should be able to go around it."_ 'Lissa's voice boomed suddenly, yet her mouth hadn't moved, nor did it sound like what she sounded like in the Light World. She seemed to be older, her voice sounding almost as old as mine. For some unknown reason, this thought of a teenage Elissa startled me.

_"'Liss? Was that you?"_ Zelda's voice, only slightly different than normal, echoed about them.

_"Of course it was, silly! Who else would it be?"_

_"You don't sound like you."_

_"I don't have my fun 'w' thingie, but I don't think I sound any different. You do though, only kinda."_

I frantically waved my hands in the air to get the girls' attention and finally explained to them that I wanted to be clued in on how to talk like that.

_"It's something to do with thinking, that's for sure. Try thinking what you want to say and then try, er, sending that thought to me?"_

It was worth a try, I thought. Concentrating, I focused all my thoughts on one word. As if I was mentally throwing it at Zelda, I put all my might behind it.

_"BROWNIES!"_

It was as if something had exploded right in front of me, sending me careening back onto the ground. I could tell it had a similar effect on 'Lissa and Zelda, though not as harsh.

_"Mind toning it down a bit?"_ Zelda asked. I shrugged, letting her know I hadn't meant for that to happen. I tried again, this time putting less force into it. However, not only was there absolutely no sound or thought like 'Lissa and Zelda had done, but it felt like someone had drained me of a ton of my energy. I explained this to them, and they seemed to understand.

_"Well, now that Link has once again proven that he is the exception to every rule, where shall we go?"_

'Lissa looked at me. She asked where we should go; I pointed to where the Temple of Time should be. She asked why; I drew my sword.

_"No," _Zelda proclaimed. _"No, no, no, no, no! You are _not_ running off to fight Dark Link. We have to get our bearings first."_

Zelda, when will you understand? Dark Link is the cause for all of this. He's the one that's kidnapped you, helped wage war on Hyrule, and now destroyed it. If I can kill him, once and for all, this entire problem will be fixed. I have to do this.

Of course, explaining all of this took a lot longer. However, when I finished, Zelda seemed to have grasped the concept, though not totally agreed with it. She refused to go to the Temple of Time, and I had no choice but to stay here with her. There was no way I was going to leave her here, even though I knew that when I faced Dark Link, I didn't want her around, nor did I want 'Lissa around either. I had a nagging feeling that things would get dangerous.

_"How about we head back to the castle?"_ Zelda prompted.

I shook my head. Hyrule Castle no longer existed. It had been wiped off of the map in the Dark World. Not even rubble remained. I knew because I had seen just that right before finding 'Lissa. Of course, once again, it took a bit of explaining to make Zelda believe that her beloved castle was gone.

_"How about we go to the Forest where all the little kids are?"_ 'Lissa prompted. I nodded. It sounded enough like a good plan, and besides that, I wanted to know what had happened to Father.

_"Okay. Link, you think your warp songs will work here?"_

It was worth a try. I pulled out the Ocarina and everyone gathered close together, save for Darunia. He explained that as Big Brother to the Death Mountain Gorons, it was his duty to stay here and try to fix what he could.

Darunia, always looking out for the Gorons. He was right, though. He was dead set against anything that could endanger the Gorons and always protected them to the last one. On the battlefield he had decimated ranks of Ganondorf's troops just because one of them had cut one of the Gorons. Well, Darunia, I wish you good luck and may the Goddesses bless your efforts.

I took Zelda's hand as she took 'Lissa's. Using my free hand to play the notes, I heard the Minuet echo across the Dark World. Zelda and 'Lissa seemed surprised, and I knew that they had heard it too.

The green lights wrapped around us and we vanished.

- The Sacred Clearing -

Strange... Instead of arriving at the Triforce Mark in front of the Temple, we arrived on the other side of the steps. Curious, I drew my sword and walked closer. Zelda and 'Lissa, both seemingly locked in some sort of deep conversation that didn't include me, followed me, assuming that I was taking them the right way. The three of us crossed the last step into the area at the same time.

"And then, when it fell, it exploded!" Zelda shouted, throwing her hands up in the air as if something had went off in her palms.

'Lissa started laughing, but stopped when she realized that she had just heard Zelda speak, not think.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymowe," 'Lissa commented.

I didn't know where Kansas was, nor did I ever expect that we were _in_ this Kansas to begin with. I let it slide, however, choosing to examine the area. The trees in the Forest looked okay as always, as did the trees around the Forest Temple. In fact, I even felt healthier just standing here.

"Well, Link, you figured out an explanation yet?"

"I have an idea, but I'm still working on it."

I actually did have an idea, but only a half-formed one that I wasn't about to share until I was sure. It had something to do with the Forest Temple, that was obvious. How, why, or if it worked for the others was beyond me.

"You know, it's strange. When I look back, all of the trees look normal, yet when I stood out there, they looked old."

"Out there? There's an 'in here' and an 'out there' now?"

Zelda nodded. "Makes sense. Maybe it's some sort of Kokiri barrier?"

"Let's go find out."

"Yay! Kokiri!"

I turned and left the area, feeling the oppressive darkness fall back on me, silencing me to everyone but myself. You know, a person could be driven mad by that thought alone. Luckily enough for me, I had Zelda and 'Lissa to keep me sane.

I threaded my way through the Lost Woods, the path clearly visible. We came to the Kokiri area quickly and I froze at what I saw.

There were the houses, the trees that all Kokiri lived in. In fact, there was my house right over there. Strangely enough, there was a cow on my balcony. Besides that, there was no sign of life anywhere, not even in the trees that served as the houses. Everything seemed dead.

I was proven wrong, however, by a small cat. It was light brown, with twin streaks of black running along from front to back on each side. It seemed way too interested in the tree-houses just to be a regular cat. It turned toward one of the houses and scampered up its side, vanishing from view. I shrugged and walked toward the path to Father.

Along the way the cat joined us, suddenly jumping on my shoulder like it belonged there. I didn't mind. And that is how we entered Father's Clearing.

We didn't go far. The second Father came into view I froze, shocked. Around us were thousands of dead leaves, in some places piled almost as high as a small wall. Father himself stood as usual in the center of the Clearing, but he no longer had the thousands of leaves as he usually did, explaining the piles. He looked dead, just like the day Ganon had cursed him when I started on my first adventure. I stumbled forward, intent of reaching my fallen father...

When I next woke, I found myself in the clearing, but it looked healthy as always. There were dozens of Kokiri surrounding me, plus Zelda and 'Lissa. I groaned and sat up and as I did so, I saw Father, as healthy as ever.

"Hroom!" he thundered. "You're awake! Welcome to the Kokiri Forest, by the way."

I laughed, then noted that it hurt to laugh, if only a little. "What exactly happened?"

"When the Dark World unfolded onto Hyrule, I gathered all the Kokiri here and shielded them from the effects."

"So this is another safe bubble?" I asked, finding that these bubbles must be slightly common.

"There are more?" Father asked, slightly surprised.

"Yeah," Zelda replied from beside me, where I guess she had been sitting. "There's one around the Forest Temple as well."

"Makes sense," a familiar voice behind me commented. I turned to come face to face with Sarah.

"Good evening, Link," she commented. "Sorry," she added as an afterthought.

"Sorry? For what?" I asked, having no idea what exactly she did that deserved an apology.

"I'm part of the reason that you got knocked out."

"Oh. Oh, okay. Wait, what?"

"You see, when the Dark World took over everything, I was lounging in Kakariko, as I have been for the past month or so. Suddenly, I was purring and chasing mice. That's when I came back here, to see if Father had any ideas on how to fix me. Obviously, you had the same idea. When I jumped on your shoulder and you walked in here, I guess Father's magic reversed the Dark World's effects. It felt like I exploded and got put back together, but without any pain at all. A tingling sensation, sure, but nothing beyond that."

"Well, Father, it seems like you have a few more gifts than previously figured. Not only can you make Kokiri children never grow up, but you can also turn cats back into people."

"So, what do you plan on doing about this?" Father asked me. I shrugged and sighed.

"What can I do? Hyrule's gone, the Dark World is everywhere, and the person responsible is just as powerful as I am. Unless you know a way to wipe the Dark World off of Hyrule, I'm out of ideas."

Father started thinking. I knew that he would come up with something, given time. Knowing that he would also take a bit of time until he told us his plan, I turned to Zelda, 'Lissa, and Sarah.

Sarah was talking avidly with Zelda about some person whose name I didn't recognize. 'Lissa was playing with Mido, surprisingly. I walked over to them and Mido stopped, looking up at me.

"Link, good to see you again," he said quietly.

"And you," I replied as he went back to playing with 'Lissa.

I noted that Mido seemed a little nervous. It hadn't been too long ago that he had bullied me around and kicked me out of everything due to my lack of a fairy. He seemed to remember this, too, because he seemed to be glancing back at me every once in a while, as if making sure I wasn't about to slice him in half or anything.

I smiled and put my hand on 'Lissa's shoulder, holding her back from pounding on Mido in their play fight. I took my sword and sheath from around my back, set it on the ground, and laughed, jumping forward toward Mido, 'Lissa following right behind.

At first, Mido seemed to be terrified, then realized that I meant him no harm as I purposely missed so 'Lissa could slam right into him. Quickly spinning, Mido, 'Lissa, and I rolled around, pretending to knock each other out, as I had seen the Kokiri do those long days of my childhood, up in that tree.

Soon enough, all the Kokiri joined in, piling on top of me and 'Lissa. We laughed and rolled about for a while, cycling through the Kokiri as they each tried to take me down, unsuccessfully. Of course, none of us got hurt and soon enough, we all stopped and rested.

"Well played, Link, well played," Mido commented. "You know, you're not that bad after all."

I laughed. "Well, that may be true, but you're not that tough, after all."

He laughed, too tired to do anything. "I'll let you get by with that one. Next time you may not be so lucky, though. I might have to come and take you down a notch."

"Take me down a notch? I'll still tower over you, no matter how many notches you take me down."

He laughed, flopping back against the grass. "Maybe so, Link. Maybe so..."


	13. My Adventures In The Dark World Part Two

**A/N: Back away! Zelda, I'm warning you! This is _my_ Pencil! _I_ am writing this! Don't come any closer!**

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**My Adventures In The Dark World Part Two**

Father rumbled soon after. We all gathered around him and waited for his decision.

"What we shall do," he started, "is try to find some way to stop Dark Link from finishing the spell that he started with the release of the Dark World. No, Link, it is not yet finished," he added before I could voice my question. "These pockets of the real Hyrule remain. I believe there is one around here, one around Lord Jabu-Jabu, and one around each of the Temples. There may be more, but I am not sure. Link, I want you to go to one of these Temples and see if anything has changed from the last time you were in it."

"Any certain Temple?" I asked.

"Any will do, however, I believe you already have one in mind."

I nodded. I certainly did, and I was eager to get going. I had my sword, I had the Ocarina, what else could I need? Zelda and 'Lissa would be safe here, as would Sarah. So, I stood and readied the Ocarina for the Serenade of Water.

"You're not going without me," Zelda chimed, standing up and turning to me.

"No. It's too dangerous, Zelda. I know you can handle yourself, but I'm not going to any ordinary Temple. I plan on fixing this once and for all through the Water Temple."

"I figured as much. Listen, I'm not going to let you go charge off again and not come back for another month."

"I plan on returning a lot sooner this time." I quickly played the notes before Zelda could object and vanished.

- Lake Hylia -

I landed on the Triforce Mark in the middle of Lake Hylia. Everything looked normal and healthy, but I knew that something was up. I went to the edge of the little island and dived into the water, only to fall through it and smash into the ground below. I groaned as I sat up, pushing the pain back. It seemed that there was a bubble here as well, and I had dived right through it. So, I slipped on the Zora Tunic and dived through the bubble into the Water Temple

I didn't see anything different. Sure, there were no enemies, but after so long, I didn't expect too many.

Maybe I spoke too soon. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught something moving, down into the water. Of course, I followed.

Whatever it was led me around the Temple with ease, as if it had been born here. It took me about three mysterious dead ends and doubling back on myself to realize that it was taking me along the very path that I had followed all those years ago. Actually, it had probably been only a year or so, due to Zelda sending me back and the curse. Either way, it had been quite a while for me. Soon enough, though, I figured out where we were heading.

I entered the mirage room. The endless water was still there, as was that lone tree. I had only taken a step forward when I heard Dark Link's voice from behind me.

"Decided to join me, I see."

I turned slowly. Dark Link walked past me, forcing me to turn around again, and sat on the rock in the center of the room. "Seems so."

"Well, normally, I'd say that it's a pleasure to have you over, but given the circumstances..."

"The circumstances being that you have an overwhelming need to cause as much pain as you can to me, yes?"

Dark Link nodded. "Correct. Now, what brings you to my humble abode?"

I sighed. Wasn't it obvious? "I want Hyrule back to normal."

"And coming to find me will help you how?"

"You're the one who changed it. You can change it back."

"You wish. It's one-way."

"Yeah right."

Dark Link hopped off of the rock and started walking toward me. "Listen to me. There's no way to fix it. Just go back to wherever you've hidden that girl of yours and camp out there until the Dark World becomes permanent and everything from the old Hyrule gets replaced."

"And if I don't?"

Dark Link stared directly at Link. "If you don't, you'll be having a family reunion before you know it. I'm sure your mother would love to see you fall in almost the same way she did."

I drew the Master Sword, the adrenaline kicking up a notch. "Don't you ever talk about my family, got it?" I growled, surprised at the tone of voice I had used.

"I'm sure your father'd enjoy it, though. His son, dying on the field of battle as he did, completely ignoring the people who care about him. Sound familiar?"

"My father died defending Hyrule. He sacrificed his life to protect me from the invaders. He fought for a reason. He never ignored us; instead he gave his life so I would have one. If you ever say otherwise, I'll see what happens when a shadow dies."

"I thought we were clear on this. You can't kill me."

"I can try." And I planned on doing just that.

I lunged, and he stepped to the side, completely avoiding the attack. However, he didn't counterattack, instead waiting for me to attack again. I did so, and he countered with the same exact blow, our swords bouncing off of each other. I jabbed forward with my sword, and he jumped on top of it and tried to take my head off. I ducked, and he jumped to the ground.

Things continued this way, and I managed to hit him a few times, if he had an actual body, that is. Strangely enough, though, the entire fight seemed identical to the one we had fought some time ago. It ended in the same way, as well. I knocked him to the ground and waited for him to vanish.

He didn't, though. He just stared up at me, as if trying to drill into my soul. I glared down at him, and felt the Master Sword pulse. I lifted it in front of me and watched a red light shoot across it. The red light vanished at the tip, and the Master Sword caught fire.

Dark Link's eyes bulged as I used the sword to slice him in two.


	14. What Ruto Has To Say About All This

**A/N: Link's done it again! Well, I managed to stop his writing wrath, but now that means _I've_ got to write!**

**Aw, come on Zelda! Let me have a turn! I mean, I have to deal with being a _cat_ so you could at least give me a turn!**

**sigh Oh, okay, but let me jot down something.**

**Okay!**

**----------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter Fourteen - What Ruto Has To Say About All This**

Boy, was I mad when Link vanished like that. He knows that I don't like it when he does that. I can take care of myself and hold my own in any fight, save for maybe against Dark Link. Either way, Link wasn't getting off that easy.

"The Water Temple, that's under that island thing in the middle of Lake Hylia, correct?" I asked the Deku Tree.

He nodded. "You are intent on going after him?"

"Yes."

"Then I wish you all the luck in the world."

"You don't mind watching Elissa until I get back, do you?" I queried, glancing over at the girl. She had fallen asleep on the grass, her hair coated in twigs and leaves where the Kokiri had 'decorated' it.

"As if she were my own," the Deku Tree responded.

I turned and started toward the exit, but was stopped by Sarah.

"I'm coming," she said. I knew there was no arguing with her, just as the Deku Tree knew that there was no arguing with me.

"Saria, wait!" Mido exclaimed, jumping up. He ran over to the Deku Tree and jumped into his branches. After a minute or so, he jumped back down into view, something clutched in his hand. He carefully passed it to Sarah, who smiled a bit after she realized what it was. She assured Mido that whatever it was would get to Link and walked over to me.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Always."

With that, we walked out of the clearing and into the Dark World, Lake Hylia our destination.

**-----**

- Dark Hyrule Field -

We had stopped at the edge of the remnant of the gate to Lake Hylia. Zelda seemed anxious to get going, but I knew that it would not be good for her to charge recklessly forward. So, with that in mind, I managed to get her to rest for a bit and eat. I personally hadn't eaten all day, and I doubted that Zelda had. Of course, I figured that neither Link nor that girl Elissa had either, but there wasn't much I could do with them.

Zelda started a fire and set some food to cook. Using the strange mind trick, we had talked for a while, mostly jumping between what I had been up to in the past month and what she had been up to in the past month. Neither of us seemed able to focus on the real matter at hand - how to find Link. Of course, he'd be in the Water Temple, but from what he has told me, that place is one of the most confusing Temples in Hyrule, so I wasn't looking forward to navigating it, even if I had a significant advantage over Zelda. And that is how we spent the evening.

Night had quickly snuck up on us. Our efforts to find Link would be postponed until the morning, as expected. However, we hadn't expected Ruto to just appear out of the shadows.

She walked into the ring of light from the small fire and glanced at us. "A Hylian out here? At this time of night?" She seemed to consider this for a moment while Zelda and I tried to grasp the fact that she had just physically spoke.

"Well, you and your cat need to get out of here. I don't want any nasty _Hylians_ skulking about _my_ Lake, got it?"

Zelda tensed. As a cat, I was blessed with a few gifts Hylians didn't have, nor did Kokiri. For one, I could jump from the tallest spire of Hyrule Castle and still land right side up. Actually, that had caused me a spot of trouble while I was heading into the Lost Woods. Some kid thought it would be funny to tie a piece of buttered bread to me and throw me down out of a tree to see if I landed butter side down. I didn't, of course. This upset him greatly. He seemed to have wanted me to land on my back and probably break my poor kitty spine. However, that's another issue. The real issue at hand was that, among other things, I was gifted with an amazing sense of smell. This of course led me to realize that Hylians and humans alike smell differently when they're seized by a particular emotion. Now I get what those scientists during the curse were going on about, although that was dogs. Either way, I could actually smell the sudden anger from Zelda. I knew that Ruto and Zelda were only on speaking terms mainly because she was a friend of Link's. I guess one too many boring trips to the Domain as a child will do that. Zelda merely stood up, though I was waiting for her to start off on her 'Queen Rampage.'

"Must I repeat myself? I am Princess of the Zora Domain, and I will see to it that you will be locked up in Hyrule's dungeons if you do not remove yourself and that cat from this area."

_"You would do well to recognize the fact that I am Queen of Hyrule, Ruto. Your father swears his loyalty to me and also, while we're on the subject, Hyrule Castle has no dungeons. I'm planning on convincing Link to deal with criminals soon enough."_

Ruto seemed to jerk at the mention of Link. "You've seen him? Where!"

_"He's off trying to fix Hyrule."_

"Fix Hyrule? What's wrong with it? Besides, he's been gone for almost eight years. How long does it take to fix a fake problem?"

_"Have you not looked around? Hyrule's been consumed by the Dark World! Besides, you saw Link about a month ago at the battle, remember?"_

"What battle?" was all she had to say. Instantly, I recognized why she smelled different. Ugh, I'm _smelling_ people! Anyway, her scent was just like Ruto, that faint taste of fish dwindling about her. However, there was a strange scent, one that I could not quite place. Whatever it was, it wasn't Ruto's scent. This had to be her Dark World counterpart.

Link had attempted to explain it to me when I had asked him where Dark Link came from. Everyone in Hyrule had an exact opposite in the Dark World, a Dark Everyone, if you will. There was a Dark Link, as we all knew, a Dark Zelda, a Dark Ruto, as was obvious, and even a Dark me. It would be interesting to meet a Dark me. We'd probably hit it off, unlike Link. Here, though, was the Dark Ruto. Zelda didn't seem to get it yet, though. While I'd been thinking, she and Dark Ruto had been arguing. You know, it doesn't seem right to call her Dark Ruto. She's not evil, after all. Well, she didn't quite fit the Sacred Ruto bill either, so I settled for Alter Ruto. Yeah, that would work...

"I know the Water Temple like the back of my fin and I say _I'm_ going!"

_"Well, he's _my_ Link and I say _I'm_ going!"_

"It's _my_ Temple!"

_"It's _my_ Link!"_

We were getting nowhere.

**-----**

_"My Link!"_

"My Temple!"

_"My Link!"_

"My Temple!"

_"My Link!"_

"My Temple!"

_"Girls!"_ I called out, bringing them both to a stop. I jumped up on Alter Ruto's head and proceeded to 'talk.'

_"You're after Link but don't know your way around the Temple. You want us gone and you know your way around the Temple. How about you help us and then we get going? Sound okay?"_

Alter Ruto sighed, a strange watery sound from deep in her throat. "If you'll leave, okay. Besides, maybe I'll get to see Link!"

_"Let's leave the exploring for tomorrow,"_ I 'said' as I jumped down from Alter Ruto and curled up close to the fire.

"Yeah, tomorrow," was all Alter Ruto had to say.

**-----**

Where does she get off thinking that Link still likes her? I have told her time and time again that Link chose me. She clearly doesn't remember that day in the Temple of Time where she said that she was getting over Link. Maybe it's this accursed Dark World that's getting to her. Maybe she was never really over him in the first place. However, that's something she'll have to deal with. I'm with Link, he's with me, no exceptions.

Of course, it was all I could do not to strangle her earlier. Agreed, I did enjoy her tales of Link, mainly because they were about Link, not because she told them.

Just thinking about him makes me realize how much I miss him. Even now I can see him in my mind, standing in Hyrule Field, sword in hand, his green cap waving in the slight breeze that wafts across his muscular figure, proving that he is as strong as he claims. His sapphire-blue eyes accentuate his face, when his messy blonde hair isn't in the way. Even now, it's like I can see him, standing there...

"Zelda!" Ruto barked, startling me out of my reverie. I groaned and sat up, the pallid red rays of light casting a bit of illumination over us. Sarah was up and about already, of course, sitting comfortably on Ruto's head.

"Is your cat going to do this a lot?"

_"That's Sarah. You can ask her yourself."_

"I've never met a Sarah. I've met a Saria, mind you, but never a Sarah. I never cared much for Saria. She had this thing for trees that I found annoying. Always 'burn this' or 'drain that' and such. It got disturbing quickly."

_"Well, I'm not such a big fan of fire, so you'll have to deal with me. Now, I'm probably going to sit on your head for most of this journey mainly so I can keep up. Now, shall we begin?"_

Ruto nodded and led us into Lake Hylia and soon to the Water Temple where Link was.

**-----**

We had been walking for quite some time. Alter Ruto had taken us through many different shortcuts, each ending up deeper and deeper in the Water Temple.

I'm going to tell you right now, I have a thing against water. I know I'm the Earth Sage and should be okay with it. I guess it's where I've been spending time as a cat or something, so, for that reason, I cannot stand a ton of water. Unfortunately, the Water Temple was full of it. Water, I mean.

Soon enough, Alter Ruto stopped at a small door that seemed different from all the others. She quietly opened it and we entered a room that seemed to go on forever. At the very center of the room stood a lone tree. Link stood below it, Dark Link on the ground at sword point. Suddenly, the Master Sword started glowing a fiery red and Link brought it down, slicing Dark Link in two.


	15. The End?

**Chapter 15 - The End?**

_It's over..._

_Dark Link is gone, this time for good._

_We're safe._

_Right?_

- - Water Temple - -

- Mirage Room -

Dark Link's two pieces burst into flames and faded from view. Where his body had been, a black sword in its sheath jutted from the ground. I, of course, grabbed it and examined it. It looked identical to the Master Sword, yet uniquely colored. I slid it back into the sheath and put it in my bag. That's when Zelda, Sarah, and Ruto made their presence publicly known.

"How long?" Zelda asked.

"Final blow," I responded. She found that acceptable and walked over to me.

"Is that it? Is he gone? For good this time?"

"Hopefully."

"And since when could you set the Master Sword on fire?" she suddenly demanded to know. Nice reunion, no? "Were you planning on telling me?"

"I don't know. I just now did it, and I never planned on it. However, it seemed to work better than methodically stabbing him. Now, what's up with Ruto?" Ever since I had taken care of Dark Link, Ruto had been just standing there, her face actually a bit pale. There was something different about her, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"I'm not sure. She seems to be a bit off her rocker to me. Just last night she was going on about how you were the love of her life and she was completely and totally devoted to you."

Suddenly there was a strange guttural noise and Ruto lunged at me, her face twisted into a scowl that could cause the very hounds of Hyrule to quake in fear. She smashed into me, sending us careening to the floor. For those few moments it took me to force her to stop, I was blocking punches. As soon as I pinned her to the ground, she started squirming and pulling back and forth to make me let go.

"How dare you!" she exclaimed. "I'll _kill_ you! You'll never see the light of day! Ever!" I proceeded to sit on her, stopping her flailing about. Here's the kicker: when I did that, she tried to bite me! She actually tried to _bite_ me! I could have gotten fish rabies!

"What's gotten into you?" I demanded.

The second I spoke, she froze. After a second, though, she continued attempting to get out from under me. I just squished her harder.

**(-)**

Eventually, she wore herself out and started to settle down. She let us ask her questions and she actually gave answers.

"What was with that bit there?" Link demanded.

"You killed him!"

"Who, Dark Link?"

"You killed my Link!" she shouted, her voice echoing across the mirage room.

"One, Dark Link is nobody's Link, and two, you'd better believe I killed him! Been trying to for a while."

"What! Why?"

"Because he's evil. He has tried to kill me, my friends, even Zelda! I have a serious problem with that. When someone tries to kill anyone I know, I get mad. He made the worst mistake possible, and he has paid for it with his life. He was evil, and evil always loses."

She seemed to shrink back at this revelation. After a moment or so, she managed to choke out a response. "H-he was evil?"

Link nodded. "Of the worst kind."

"B-but how is he evil? All he did was try to live right and be a decent kid. The last time I talked to him he was all enthusiastic about going with some guy to learn how to fight so he could grow up and be a Knight for the King. Of course, that was about eight years ago, right before everything changed. Is that what happened to him? Was he under some sort of spell?" She had forgotten her anger toward Link and replaced it with worry about Dark Link. Sadly, this didn't last long, because I guess she thought that since Dark Link was 'under a spell' he was innocent and Link had killed him before she could save him. So, with that in mind, she started back with all the jerking and such. Link, however, had something else in mind, because right when she started, he jumped back off of her and flipped onto the rock behind him.

She jumped up with the agility that only the Zora have. "You're the evil one! You killed my Link before I could fix him!"

Link sighed and closed his eyes. He held out his left hand, palm up. The room fell silent as red sparkles fell from the 'sky' and drifted around Link, landing on his palm. They took the form of a red orb that seemed to dance and shift in the light as if aflame. He held it up in the air and spoke, not once opening his eyes.

"You say I am evil. You say that Dark Link was under a spell, ensorcelled, as it were. I regret to inform you that I am not evil, nay, even the opposite in fact. The only spell that Dark Link was under was a spell of his own design - envy. He saw what I had in this world and hated me for it. I grew up where he had not. I had a family and friends of a sort; he did not. I had Zelda by my side and I was happy. He had no such thing. Originally he was brought here by Ganondorf, probably thinking that Ganondorf would teach him the way of the sword. He was tricked and put up against me almost eight years ago. Ever since then he has wished that he could have what I have. It has poisoned his heart. Not only was I better than all the Knights in Hyrule, I was with the Queen of the country and blessed by the Goddesses as well. This here is proof of Din's blessing, known as Din's Fire. He wanted what I had, what he had never obtained. I was all but given what I have; he has had to fight and scrape together what he could just to live. Where I was blessed, he was cursed, and he has always blamed me for it. I gave him something that he wanted, though he did not know it or wish it, even. Now Dark Link is with the Goddesses, finally achieving what he has dreamed of."

I stood in awe of Link. The red orb was giving off a large glow, bathing Link in the fiery red. The light in the room had dimmed so far that I could not even see anything but Link. The orb faded slowly and dissipated around us. As it did Link collapsed onto the ground. I rushed forward and helped him to his feet. He turned his head to look at me, his eyes filled with an immense amount of knowledge, an amount so great that for a moment, I wondered if he knew what I thought. He didn't confirm or deny my thoughts, but looked at me as if telling me not to worry, that he will be there for me, he will do all he can to assuage the fears that my thoughts provide. I nodded and he drifted to sleep in my arms.

**-----**

Some time later, I awoke to find Link sitting on a boulder near the water's edge. He sat in silence, the Ocarina in hand and the Master Sword by his side. He was staring out across the Lake, yet I knew he wasn't really staring at anything in particular.

"Good morning," he said without turning. Quietly I rose and walked over to him. I knew he knew that I had walked over, but he said nothing. In silence we stood, or in his case sat, there, watching the water yet not ever seeing the water.

Finally he spoke, but when he did, it startled me even more than the silence had. "Zelda, do I really belong here?"

"Of course you do!" I replied, shocked that he would even consider such a thing. "Why wouldn't you?"

He sighed. "All I've done is bring darkness and evil to Hyrule. I'm a danger to Hyrule."

"No you're not. And you don't bring darkness and evil to Hyrule, you fix it."

"Ganondorf used me to get the Triforce, he almost killed you to get to me, and he was willing to bring the tower down to kill me, endangering you. Dark Link tried to kill Sarah to get to me, and then he kidnapped you to get me. Now he was willing to destroy all of Hyrule to see me dead. Every time something bad happens, it's because of me. Maybe Hyrule would be safer if I wasn't here."

"Link, don't say things like that. Hyrule's fine. It had a war before, and that one wasn't because of you, and we made it out just fine. You don't bring disasters and such to us; you keep them from destroying Hyrule. Without you, Hyrule wouldn't exist. Without you, I wouldn't be here."

He seemed puzzled by my last statement. "How would you not be here?"

"If you had never shown up in the courtyard eight years ago, I would have gone off and married one of those stuck up snobs from another kingdom and he would have taken me away to that land and ruled Hyrule as a province. Then of course Hyrule would probably be drained of all its supplies and the country would have fallen into disrepair. With you, though, I found the courage to rule Hyrule without some offish prince doing it for me. So, you see, it's better that you're here. Under us, Hyrule's flourished. We're mere months away from being declared the number one economical region in the world. We have the highest literacy rate, the best diplomatic ties, and a whole list of other stuff. If you had never shown up, none of this would be possible."

Link nodded. "I know, but sometimes even the Hero of Time needs a little wisdom here and there."

"Come on. Let's get back to the Deku Tree. I know someone who's waiting for us there."

Link seemed to brighten up. He stood and strapped the Master Sword to his back, as always. At that exact moment, Sarah popped up from who knows where.

"Link! I'm so sorry. Here, Mido wanted me to give you this." She walked up to us and handed Link what looked like a leaf. It was a decent leaf, but I was never one to worry too much about foliage. A tree is good but individual leaves are not exactly my highest priority. Link, though, seemed both astonished and delighted at the same time.

"Mido... said to give me this?" he asked after a moment.

Sarah nodded.

"Tell him I said thanks. It means a lot."

"Er, Link? What's with the leaf?" I asked. It turns out I don't like to be left out of the loop about anything.

"You see, when I was a little kid, before Ganondorf and all, back when I still thought I was a Kokoris, all the Kokoris would play games. One of their favorites was taking Deku Leaves and trying to knock everyone else down. These leaves can grow and shrink with just a whim and so they would use them to create large bursts of wind and they'd try to blow everyone down. However, I was never allowed to play. Mido had an issue with me not having a fairy and was jealous of the fact that I was such good friends with Saria. They would never let me play." He twirled the small leaf between his fingers. "Now, I guess Mido's over it."

"You know, Link, there's a lot more to you than meets the eye," I told him. He smiled as he put the leaf in his bag.

When he looked up from his bag, I could see the determination in his eyes. He turned to Sarah. "You still have the Fairy Ocarina? Good. I want you and Zelda to go back to Father. He can shelter you until I finish."

"And what are you planning on doing?" I demanded.

"I plan on finishing this evil that's overcome Hyrule."

"Then I'm coming with you."

"No, Zelda." He turned to me and took my right hand in his hands. "It's too dangerous. I don't mean that I don't think you can handle yourself. It's too dangerous even for me. I plan on fixing Hyrule once and for all, and I want you to be safe if I return." He stopped for just a moment. Continuing, he said, "'Lissa will need one of us with her. She's bound to get worried. Father has probably kept her calm until now, but soon enough she's going to become too much of a handful for him to handle her when she wants me or you. I want you to watch after her, Zelda. I don't know what it is, but there's something special about her. When Hyrule is back to normal, I want you to take good care of her, okay?"

"You act as if you're not coming back."

Link released my hand and stepped back. "That's because I might not be." In a few moments, he had the Ocarina out and played six short bursts of music. From his back sprouted wings that enveloped him and he vanished. I nodded dutifully as I had when Link had vanished completely almost two months ago.

"Come on, Sarah. Let's go."

* * *

**A/N: Give me that! There. I just want to say that the next chapter or two might take a bit longer than normal because I'm going to be putting a lot of thought into them to make them good enough to fit what Link just said. Yes, Link, you can have the Pencil back in a second. Anyway, I am apologizing in advance, but I think it should be worth it. The next chapters, sadly, will not contain Zelda. They'll all be Link. Thank you for your patience on this matter. I look forward to the next update just as much as you are. Alright! Here's the Pencil! Just get going before I change my mind!**


	16. One Type Of Future

**"A"/N: Okay, so Shadow was off a bit. Zel's gonna jot down some stuff for this chapter, but the few after this are gonna be all me! Wait, is that a good thing?**

**See what I have to put up with? On a side note, Shadow wants to know if anyone's ever heard of specific names for the Hylian days of the week. I keep telling him that Market's on Sixthday, but he refuses to listen. Can anyone please tell that thickheaded writer that I'm right? Better yet, that I'm _always_ right? Thanks a ton.**

**Chapter Sixteen - One Type Of Future**

Sarah and I appeared in the Forest Clearing moments later. Walking out into the Dark World was strangely refreshing, once I ignored the death and destruction, of course. Sarah jumped onto my shoulder at one point as I strode into what remained of he Lost Woods, but other than that, nothing happened.

It's strange. For years, when I thought about Link vanishing off and not coming back, the mere thought would send me reeling. Now, though, I know for a fact that he may never return, yet I have managed to take all of this in a calm light. Is it because I dealt with his disappearance at the hands of the Gerudo? Maybe it's for the best, though. I don't even want to know how Elissa's gonna take this. She loves Link. If he vanished, well, she'd be a wreck. Maybe me toughing it out will help her, if I have to tell her at all. Then what'll I tell her? Oh, Goddesses give me strength to tell her what she needs to hear.

"Zelda, you okay?" Sarah asked as we walked through the Deku Tree's barrier, reverting Sarah to her human form.

"I'll be fine," I responded truthfully. Well, half truthfully. I would be okay soon enough, at least. I'll be just fine when Link comes back.

"Yay!" Elissa's voice echoed toward me as the owner of the voice jumped into my arms.

"Did'ja miss us?" Sarah asked, playfully knocking some of the leaves that were still in Elissa's hair to the ground.

"Of couwse!" she replied, hugging Sarah as well as me. "What happened?"

"We were chasing Link down again," I explained.

"Oh." She looked past us, obviously expecting Link.

"He's still off exploring. He'll be back soon enough."

"Oh, okay. So, wanna pway a game?"

**-----**

I awoke suddenly, cast from the land of shadows to the safe Kokiri Forest. What exactly I had been dreaming of, though, escaped me at the moment.

It had been three days since Link vanished from atop Lake Hylia. Elissa and I had made ourselves right at home, even assisting the Kokiri in constructing houses in the Deku Tree's branches. However, there wasn't much I could do because as a Hylian, I'm 'prone to chopping and stacking,' as Mido put it. So, they made me a little house out of the living branches and suggested I stay in there or down out of the tree, saying it a lot more polite, of course. So, for the past few days, I had been in my little tree house.

As I sat up, I sighed. Whatever my dreams had been about the past few days, they weren't pleasant, and unpleasant dreams leave me tired afterward.

That was when I saw a figure move on the other side of the small bed-like thing the Kokiri had made. I looked toward the figure, instinctively putting one hand over Elissa, making sure that if something happened, just in case, she'd be fine.

"Zelda?" Sarah asked. I sighed again and quietly slid off of the 'bed.'

"Yeah, Sarah?" I asked sleepily. "Something I can help you with?"

"Are you okay?" she asked bluntly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Zelda, don't lie to me. I'm not Elissa's age, you know. You cry in your sleep, you hold on to Elissa like you're afraid you'll never see her again if you let go. You may put up a brave front for her, but you and I both know that it's too much to just bottle up. If you keep this up, you'll only hurt worse. I know Link wouldn't want that."

I nodded in the near-darkness. "I know, but it's just too much to deal with. When he vanished for that month, I did everything I could to distract me from what I believed had been Link's death. Of course, he returned from that with a can-do, I-will-survive attitude and all. Now, though, he actually said that he might not come back. I'm scared, Sarah, and I don't like being scared. If he doesn't return, well, I don't know what we'll do. Well, I know what we'll actually _do, _but I have to wonder if life will be worth it with Link gone."

"He'll be back, Zelda, I know it. He beat Dark Link. There's no one left to challenge him."

"That's where you're wrong," I replied, as my dreams of flames and frost returned. I told her what I had dreamed, and she nodded thoughtfully.

"You've got a point, but he's beaten them before. He can do it again, even without the shield. Now, I suggest you get some rest. We're gonna need it if you plan to learn how to use that magic of yours in the Kokiri style."

I nodded as she walked to the door. "Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow."

She smiled. "It's a deal." With that, she jumped off the small porch-like platform into the tree.

I sighed for the third time that night and leaned against the 'wall' of the house. I knew that I couldn't sleep. I had too much to think about.

Think... That's it! I had cracked my thinking problems. I got up and walked to the other side of the room, out the door. I slid down the branches, moving my nightgown when it almost ripped in two on a small branch that seemed to come from nowhere. I landed, brushed the stuff off of my back, and walked to the exit of the Clearing.

"Careful, my Queen," the Deku Tree rumbled quietly. It is a strange thing to hear a tree rumble quietly. "It is dangerous beyond this area. I trust that you have good reason for leaving?"

I nodded. "Yes. I have things I need to think about, and there's no better place to do that than a place where you can't do anything but."

"Your mind is precluded from all but Link, I take it?"

"Yeah. I miss him, but the way he sounded, it was almost as if he was signing his death certificate. I can't think of much that could hurt Link, but obviously, he didn't think so. I don't want him to go out and die just to try something hopeless." I stopped. "Is there even a way to fix Hyrule?"

"Of course. However, it is very complicated, and I still haven't figured it out. Earlier, I said it was just a spell, but with Dark Link's demise, it should have been broken. However, since it remains, there is obviously something in this world that is bound to the spell. There are, unfortunately, only two things that could reverse it."

"And what are they?" I asked excitedly. If there was a second way, then I could help Link fix Hyrule. Maybe even then he'd come back safe and sound!

"Well, Link could just find and destroy the item that's bound to the spell. On the other hand," he paused here, "if that doesn't work, there is an ancient legend foretelling a darkness descending on our land."

"An ancient legend? Is there a giant book of these made for anything and everything that might ever happen?"

_"A Queen herself ruling,_

_Exhales her breath sharply_

_Through her nose,"_

The Deku Tree said this after half a second of thought. Within moments, I suddenly sneezed. Laughing, I looked up at the Deku Tree. "What, predicting my sneezes now?"

"No, I'm just commenting that there are billions of potential prophecies and legends. Now, would you like to hear the one about this situation?"

"Sure." I sat down on one of the roots, making sure that there was nothing sticky that I could get on me. I had had it up to here with sap and such, and with my magical wardrobe gone, I didn't want to lose _another_ nightgown to midnight jaunts.

The Deku Tree nodded and started:

_Our fair land has always been a world of peace, of happiness. However, I, Chief Whisperer of the Hylians, have heard distressing news from the clouds._

_The Winds tell of a stranger who shall come to our land and unify the Tribes of Hyral. He shall do this successfully, but in doing so, he has cursed us all._

_The King, as he will call himself, will beget a son who will be two sons. A Twin, the Wind calls them. One of them is pure, innocent, the very embodiment of Light. The other, however, is the complete opposite. He is evil, blasphemous against the Goddesses, even daring to claim he is the rightful heir to the 'throne' of Hyral._

_War will come, the Wind whispers, and so it shows me. The evil brother will attack the good one for Hyral's throne. After years of war, the evil brother is defeated. He and his wife, a Twin as well, are thrown into the Realm of the Goddesses, banished, but not before he could tell his brother that his 'kingdom' will be his, even if he has to destroy it to claim it._

"The Wind? People used to talk to the wind? I mean, I knew about the Goddesses, but never one who spoke through the wind."

"None did. However, they never could distinguish between the ways the Goddesses really talked and the sounds of the actual wind, so that is what they called it."

"So, this twin of the prince wages war on his brother to claim Hyrule?"

"He is defeated, of course, and the brother is sent into the Sacred Realm, along with his wife, a twin of the wife of his brother."

"Ew. Isn't that incest or something?"

"No. Just because his brother was married to her sister didn't make him a blood relative of his wife. Besides, it was an arranged marriage, so it didn't matter if they were all brothers and sisters of each other, though that _was_ frowned upon."

"Poor girls," I muttered, remembering the hundred or so suitors whom my father had sent for.

"Actually, they were quite fine with the idea. In those days, people believed that twins were people sent from the Goddesses to help with communication. Even back then, people knew about the ability of a twin to talk to their twin through thoughts. They were used as spies, diplomats, couriers, and any job you can think of that requires the passing of information from one place to another fairly quickly. However, since the twins would have to act as one, they were brought up as one. Any individualistic life, such as a wife or husband and kids, was out of the question. In this case, the twins happen to be royalty, so they could not be used as such. When the good brother, Tomoshibi as he was known, fell in love with the Hyral twin of a diplomatic pair, his father recalled the other twin and betrothed both brothers to the two. Luckily, where the brothers could feel the others' emotions, they were both fine with this. Of course, this turned into a problem when the evil brother's mischievous wife switched herself with her sister and caused the evil brother to become very angry when he found out what had happened. He believed that his brother had decided he wanted them both for himself, and because of that the evil brother, Kuragari as he was called, left the castle and said if he ever returned, he would not return alone."

"Okay. So, how does this pertain to this era?"

"Well, after he was cast into the Sacred Realm, he found that there was an area that he could shape and control. Of course, he made it identical to Hyrule and called it such. Now, as you are well aware, Kings don't last long without heirs, and both the King of Hyrule and the King of the new Sacred Realm Hyrule were without. Soon, though, there was born a child to each of the twins. Their births were identical, and the children were identical, except that the one born to Tomoshibi of the Day was good like his father, and the one born to Kuragari of the Night was evil and cunning like his father. I think you see where this is going."

"From that point on, every child was born at the same time, and was identical, except they were opposites," I remarked.

"Close enough. Their inner balance of Good and Evil is switched. For most people, such as almost all of the current Hylians have about the same amount of Good as Evil, so their Opposite is almost identical. However, when one is born that is unbalanced, usually someone of pure heart and innocent mind, the Opposite becomes evil and cunning."

"Like Link and Dark Link?" I asked, double checking my guesswork.

"Yes, like Link and Dark Link. Also like you and your Opposite, Ganon and his supposed Opposite, Saria and hers, Ruto and hers, Darunia and his, Impa and hers, Nabooru and hers, and Rauru and his. There are thousands of examples, but you get the gist of it. Anyways, for thousands of years, this trend continues. However, Kuragari of the Night managed to lay a curse on Hyrule, vowing that Hyrule will be his, even if he has to annihilate it to achieve the goal. The legend is continued from another, more recent source:

_Darkness comes close._

_A Son of Night will rise to claim his Father's throne._

_Night's own power will follow him._

_-_

_The Fair Land will be covered._

_A blanket of darkness will cover our world._

_The Son of Night will come._

_-_

_An orb, there is._

_Made by the King of the Day to repel Night._

_His Son must find it._

_-_

_The Sons of Night and Day alike, yet opposite._

_They will fight for the fate of the Fair Land._

_The Tsugaru Orb will decide the victor._

"Well," I said as he finished. "That was an interesting little prophecy. Mind filling in the blanks that the stanzas don't?"

"It's simple, really. A Son of Night, in truth a descendant of Kuragari of the Night, will fight with a Son of Day, a descendant of Tomoshibi of the Day, for the Fair Land, Hyrule. The one who has an artifact called the Tsugaru Orb will win, as I see it."

"So, these two descendants, they have to be Opposites, yes?"

"Agreed. The Sons, both alike and opposite, are in truth Opposites from each of the Worlds. Seeing as how the Legend states that one is obviously the Son of Night and the other is the Son of Day, one has to be Good while the other obviously Evil."

"Like Link and Dark Link," I finished.

"Exactly what I was thinking. Link and Dark Link tie in with this legend quite well, actually. Dark Link is from the Dark World and came across to this world and soon covered the land in a darkness, which we see as the Dark World. Dark Link can blend into the shadows, vanish at will, and literally absorbs any light around him, all common traits of Night and its powers. Now, consider the fact that Dark Link is most likely the Son of Night, which would make his Opposite the Son of Day, the only one who stands a chance. First, however, this Tsugaru Orb must be found."

"Any ideas on what this Tsugaru Orb is?" I asked. I strained my mind for any reference on this Orb from when Impa had insisted I submit to being tutored in Hyrulean history, but I could think of nothing.

"All I know is that it is an orb of pure light. It probably would fit in your palm and there's a good chance that it would burn anyone who isn't for the most part good. This of course is guesswork," the Deku Tree said, obviously frustrated. Forget my statement about how weird it is to hear a tree rumble quietly; it's even weirder to hear a frustrated tree.

"The Orb," a voice said from behind me, "is an amazingly powerful magical object. It is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, agreed, but it has enough pure, concentrated light in it to completely annihilate anything that thrives on darkness. It was fashioned by Tomoshibi Day-King to prevent Kuragari Moon-Son from ever returning to this land. However, it grew lax as the eons passed. Tomoshibi Day-King's son ceded the throne to Hareon the Conqueror, who ruled Hyrule until the day he died and his son took over, effectively starting the Royal Family we have today. After Tomoshibi Day-King's son ceded the throne, it was believed that no descendant of Kuragari Moon-Son could defeat a family that was not his. So, now, when the Son of Night attacked this world, it took the Orb a while to notice. Soon, though, it will make itself known to the chosen Son of Day."

"Who are you?" I asked cautiously, "and how do you know all of this?"

"I am a servant of Tsugaru. That is how I know all of this, being chosen by the Orb's creator."

"I thought you just said that Tomoshibi created the orb. If so, who's Tsugaru?"

The stranger shook his head softly, as if used to answering questions that he obviously though everyone knew the answers to. "Tomoshibi Day-King thought up the idea of the orb and used his magic as a base, but it takes an extreme amount of power to create something as powerful as the Orb. My master Tsugaru constructed the actual Orb. Tsugaru was an ancient and powerful wizard who lived during Tomoshibi Day-King's reign. Master Tsugaru was also a-" At this point the person said a word which I did not recognize, nor did I ever plan on trying to pronounce it. He realized this and quickly corrected himself.

"I am sorry. There is no exact Hylian word for it. I think the closest translation would be a _prophesier_, I believe."

"You mean someone that has visions of the future and stuff?"

"Yes, exactly."

"For future reference, we call that a Seer, usually. It's a little easier to pronounce and people will understand you more often."

"Either way. Master Tsugaru was a Seer nonetheless, and he was the one who wrote the last part of the Legend of Overthrown One."

I started thinking. Link has several times told me that I am extremely dangerous when I'm thinking. I take little notice of what's going on around me unless I'm using it to think, in which case I can even catch Link sneaking into the castle from the tallest tower, if I want to.

Anyway, my thought cogs started turning in the momentary silence. I instantly noticed that the stranger, even in the Kokiri light, seemed to be hidden by a strange mist. Light seemed to bend around him in ways that no Hylian could ever do even at the acme of magical power. I thought for a moment before and realized that something was wrong here, very wrong.

In seconds, I dropped to the ground, grabbed the first pebble I could find, and hurled it at the stranger. It flew through the air, but seconds before it hit him, it vanished, appearing on the other side of him as if it had always been there.

"Pray tell, _stranger_, what right do you have to interfere with the work of Prophets?" I asked.

My words seemed to hit dead on. He took a step back, as if in shock, then quickly regained his composure. "I underestimated you, my Queen. Fire-Daughter of Hareon you truly are. Next time I shall come prepared."

"Tell me why you have come at all!" I demanded. "This is my kingdom now, not yours. Do you realize that it is impossible to fool me if I concentrate? Disband your shadow-cloak, Tsugaru, Sorcerer of the Dawn!"

The stranger chuckled as the shadows around him faded. The figure that stood before me was now visible to anyone.

"By the Goddesses," the Deku Tree quietly interjected. "How?"

The young man bowed slightly to both of us. His midnight black hair seemed to shine as he did such. It was strange how his black hair counterbalanced the pure white robes that he wore. They were plain robes, unlike the ones that floated around nowadays.

"You want to know why I have come, my Queen? The son of my kin is in mortal peril and I am here to help."

Conscious thought was beyond me. It was as if I was being fed the words, though from where, I do not know. Either way, I let them flow.

"Help how? By destroying Hyral once and for all? I won't let you do that."

"My lord, this is no time to get a thick head, got it? I have waited thousands of years for the time where my nephew could be helped. I have helped you since the beginning, and you know it."

"Tsugaru, this will be the last time you interfere. If you mess up again, I will have your head on a platter. And this time no magic will save you, because the Three Who Give Magic are also the Three Who Take Away."

He bowed once more, this time obviously sincere. "Yes, my lord. This time, I will not fail. Our kingdom shall live again, in this future. You have my word." He backed up and removed a sphere that glowed with white light from his robes. "Let the Wind move me!" And with that, he vanished.

I dropped to my knees, the curious power leaving me feeling drained. I gasped for breath, trying to speak at the same time.

"What...just happened there?"


	17. Link's Tale

'**A'/N: Well, now that Zelda's gone and had her fun, it's my turn. So, here I go! Just a flick of my sword and this evil thingie shall fall before my wrath!**

**Link! Just shut up about your sword and start writing!**

**sigh Yes, Zelda...**

**Chapter Seventeen – Link's Tale**

After several long days of searching high and low for any way to break the curse, I finally discovered that there was a man in Kakariko that could help me. After valiantly...

'**A'/N: Link!**

**What? Can I not add embellishments?**

**No! That defeats the purpose! Now, put down how it _really_ happened!**

**Okay, okay…**

**Chapter Seventeen – Link's _Real_ Tale**

After scouring Hyrule for any shard of evidence about a weakness in Dark Link's spell, I managed to find one. Er, well, it found me. I was walking down one of my usual routes when I suddenly fell into a hole that I thought vanished with Hyrule. Guess not.

**-----**

"Urg." I sat up as I looked around me. Usually, in one of these holes, I'd find some Deku growths and a treasure chest with Rupees or a Fairy Fountain. This time, though, I found myself in front of a strange, yet familiar, door. Pushing it open, I entered another room as plain as the first. However, as I walked across, I noticed that the ground seemed different.

Suddenly, as I reached the middle, the ground around me melted away, revealing the churning lava beneath. I froze, watching the ground around me vanish, leaving me with my small circle of dirt to stand on.

From inside the lava, I heard a strange cackling sound. Koume rose from the boiling glop and faced me as the lava touching her vanished.

"So, you finally decided to show up?" she asked.

I grinned. "Of course! It's not every day that I get to fix Hyrule and save it from the usual horde of evil. What are you going to try now?"

"Well, I was considering setting you on fire, but I decided that it wouldn't be any fun, so I diverted some of Death Mountain's magma to this place. Even now the churning mass is eating at your little island. Pretty soon you'll be nothing but a bit more liquid."

I sighed. "Come on, Koume. Can't you give me a challenge?"

"Wha..?"

I dropped to my knees, pulled my bow from my bag, and notched an arrow. I aimed it Koume as I made the connection with my magic, freezing the arrow. I released the magic arrow mere moments after Koume realized what I was doing.

"Oh no you don't!" she screamed, rising upwards to avoid the arrow. It flew past her, piercing into the rock wall behind her.

"Ha! You missed!" she shouted, triumphant.

"Oh really?" I watched as the magic in the arrow dispersed into the wall. It froze over, the ice reaching down to the lava. The lava melted it, but the water that was produced solidified the lava. The hardened rock grew quickly, surrounding my island with cooled lava.

"What just happened?" Koume asked, glancing from me to the arrow to the lava and then back to me.

I explained the basic idea of an icy wall becoming a waterfall when heated, which would cool the lava so I could walk on it. She didn't really like that explanation. I didn't figure she would.

"How dare you! Well, you won't get by that easily. There's no exit to this place, at least not for you."

I shrugged. "Bring it on, hot head."

She growled at me and flew through the door that had just appeared. I, of course, followed her.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I entered the nightmare of a room. Well, not a nightmare exactly, but if you picture a room with about five billion mirrors, each made from a single pane of glass that can reflect your image about three thousand times each, you can start to see what I mean. I mean that figuratively, of course, because at that moment, all I could see was me, and a lot of me. If I was into my looks as much as Zelda was, (and I mean that in the nicest way!) then maybe it wouldn't be so bad, but it only made me notice what a sorry condition I was in. My tunic was all but torn to shreds, though by luck it remained intact enough to wear. My pants were whole, save for the fact that they might as well have been shorts given the condition of the bottom half. My hat, though, was in perfect condition. Yay for my hat!

Of course, none of this could draw me away from what a situation I had gotten myself into. Of course, the one thing that could make it worse just happened to have starting hacking up a lung or two over my head.

"Koutake, nice to see you. You look uglier than the last time you died. Did you do something to your face or have you always been that disgusting?"

"Well, at least I don't have to wear a stupid green tunic around Hyrule."

"On, no, I'd _much_ rather fly around on an eight hundred year old broom that's almost as old as I am."

"Watch it! I'm only three hundred and eighty!"

"Yeah, well that's not what the five tons of wrinkles are telling me."

"That was uncalled for!" Koutake shouted, throwing a ball of ice at me. I jumped up and away from the ball, leaving it to smash into the floor.

"What? I've not got you _steamed_, have I? Boiling mad?"

"Why you insolent-" At this point she was interrupted by a flaming arrow that she narrowly avoided.

"You moved! You shouldn't have moved!" I had forgotten how much fun it was to make fun of Koume and Koutake.

"Fine then. Let's see how well you fare in this room!" With that, Koutake dived _into_ one of the mirrors. I attempted to follow, but only found myself with an annoying bruise. I shrugged and plunged into this strange maze of mirrors.

**-----**

I never want to see a mirror again.

This is my new life statement. After wandering around a room with at least twenty trillion mirrors, I have discovered that, no matter how much I look at myself in a mirror, I do not change. I shall have to present this conclusion to Zelda. Maybe she can shed some light on her mirror obsession. Well, either way, here I was, stuck in a maze of mirrors with no idea where to go, when I got a bright idea. It was an exceptionally bright idea, actually, because my idea consisted of fire, and lots of it.

I brought my hands to my side, then, after a second of concentration, slammed them into the ground, shouting, "Din's Fire!"

I watched as the wall of flames shot outward, toward the mirrors, but instead of melting them like I had planned, they seemed to absorb the fire.

"Uh oh..." I quickly ducked as several fireballs shot toward my head. Maybe attempting to melt them hadn't been the most brilliant idea I've ever had. Oh well. Now what..?

I jumped up and shot forward, barely dodging another errant fireball. Lovely. My brain was running through the possible solutions to this problem, yet none seemed to promise survival. The best idea that I could figure out only gave me a sixty-forty chance of living, though it was a given fact that I would be seriously injured.

Of course, that's when it hit me. Literally. As I was sliding along, avoiding the fire, I smashed into a mirror that seemed to have been melted from the inside out. It was hot, even though it was frozen. This in itself would have provided countless hours of study, had it not been for another fireball barely missing my head and smashing into the mirror, melting it even more. The mirror no longer worked as a mirror. It might as well have been a plain block of opaque ice.

Of course, from one thing springs another. I noticed that several of the fireball-spitting mirrors had roasted insides. So, if absorbing fire destroyed the reflective parts of the mirrors, what's stopping me from clearing a path by doing such?

Oh yeah, the fireballs that bounce back! Duh! However, if the mirrors that have already been roasted don't reflect any longer, I might be able to rig one up to serve as a makeshift shield. Of course, I hadn't made a shield in about seven or eight years, so it might just have to be a large piece of unnaturally frozen ice strapped to my back. Hey, whatever works. So, using my sword, I broke the ice around one of the bad mirrors and watched it topple to the ground. I hefted it onto my back and pulled out my bow.

This next bit was horrendous torture on my part. I had to somehow shoot flaming arrows at every mirror and catch the resulting fireball with the ice slab on my back. Of course, I had to hold the mirror with two hands, the bow with one, the arrow with one, and still manage to move fast enough to switch one pair of hands for the other, as it were. Goddesses, what was Koutake _thinking?!_

Oh well. There's no time like the present. So, with much aplomb, I proceeded to tear my way through the mirror maze. As is my style, I followed through, actually managing to block five of six fireballs.

Sadly, with the fact that I blocked six or seven comes the fact that I missed one. This particular one slammed into my stomach, causing me to release the slab of ice to clutch my flaming abdomen. The block, now released, fell from my back and somehow knocked me over, pinning me under it. This, I determined, was a painful situation to be in. My mind quickly went to work, trying to figure out what I could do. The best thing for now would be to melt a few more mirrors and see if I could still block them with the icy slab that was pinning me down. So, I took aim and fired my arrow, literally. Alright, I'm done with the bad puns, for now.

Either way, the Fire Arrow pierced one of the mirrors, but instead of spewing forth a fireball, it exploded. Well, it seemed to. The front part of the mirror, the actual reflected part, had shattered and shot forward. All in all it was an impressive sight, but it gave me another idea.

I aimed my bow at the one on top of me and let another Fire Arrow fly. This, too, exploded, the explosion sending it flying away from me, actually taking several mirrors down with it. Of course, it also landed about four dozen shards of thin ice directly into my body at point blank range, so I was very uncomfortable, to say the least. But then again, I was out from under the mirror thing.

I struggled to my feet and stumbled over to the first shattered mirror. I could feel the insane use of magic with the Fire Arrows finally taking its toll. Rule number one with magic: You get what you put in. It's based off of about five or six laws of the natural world, one of which has something to do with the fact that energy can't be created or destroyed, just transformed. Either way, every bit of energy I needed for that fire came directly from me, and it had accumulated. I needed sleep, bad.

The shattered mirror was concave, forming a sort of nook, which I found to be very helpful. I crawled into the mirror and discovered that it not only fit me perfectly, but it was also comfortable. So, obviously, I fell fast asleep.

**-----**

_"Back off!" I shouted to the oncoming Wolfos. They didn't. Big surprise. I fought back with sword and shield, trying to do as much damage to one before I had to block an attack from another. They seemed invincible, though, and that was frustrating. So, I did what I knew how to do; I fought. I fought and I fought and I fought, yet nothing seemed to be able to overcome them. They were wearing me down, and I knew it. Unfortunately, they seemed to know that I knew, so any chance I had was gone._

_Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a bright light shot across everything, enveloping me and the Wolfos. They shrieked and ran off, taking cover in the trees. I, however, stood my ground._

_The light dimmed enough for me to see a silhouetted figure walking slowly toward me. It was a person, but who it was I could not tell, though by what I figured was long hair, I assumed it was female, at least. The person kept walking toward me, as if beckoning me to come to her. I came, though it would have normally been against my better judgment. There was something familiar about this person. I walked forward, deep into the light, and woke up._

**-----**

"Oh, of course," I sighed, releasing my last hold on sleep. I tried to stretch out, as I almost always do when waking, but I soon found that my legs were a touch too long. Everything was dark, and I couldn't find a place where I could move. It felt like I was in some sort of bubble, and I didn't like that. It's not that I'm claustrophobic or anything, but there's just something about waking up in the middle of the night trapped in what felt like a smooth bubble. Actually, it was oddly smooth. It felt as smooth as glass, or...

I remembered where I was. It seemed that the mirror part had grown overnight. I kicked it out with my foot, watching it shatter as it hit the floor. I climbed out and held one of my arrows up, watching it as it ignited.

Instantly, light filled the entire room, the light from the flame reflecting off of every mirror there. Strangely enough, I was not reflected. That's when I realized that I could use that to my advantage. The thing that had gotten me so lost earlier was that the mirrors kept showing me going everywhere, so I ended up following myself, which is always a bad idea, now that I think about it. So, I followed the flame.

**-----**

I still hate mirrors.

I had walked for what seemed like hours with no end in sight, but I had the distinct feeling that I had made major progress. The mirrors seemed to agree as I came to a dead end with non-reflective mirrors at its end.

I laughed satisfactorily as I whipped out the Megaton Hammer and smashed the mirrors gleefully. Man, I like smashing things!

I looked beyond the two mirrors and saw that there was a small door past that. So, mustering up as much courage as I could, I stepped through the door.


	18. The Second Part of Link's Tale

'**A'/N: Sorry it took so long for these chapters, guys, but Shadow's been a bit busy lately and since he's gotten himself a new computer, he has to share with his Internet-frenzied family. However, he's managed to finish quite a lot, considering. The major plot of this story's slowly unraveling itself, though.**

**Link! Shush! I told you that so you'd shut up, not so you'd blab to our readers! Besides, what you think is the main plot is only a cover story! Oops, er, um, forget you read that.**

**_I'm_ still writing here! Now, before you spoil any more plot elements, I'm gonna get writing again.**

**Chapter Eighteen – The Second Part of Link's Tale**

The door led to a small room that looked strikingly familiar. Of course, the second the astonishingly loud music kicked in, I had decided not only on the place, but the time as well. The music sounded roughly like so:

_Boom boom_

_Ba da boom_

_Boom ba da boom boom ba da boom boom_

_Ba da boom_

Like I said, rough. You'll have to add your own rhythm to it, of course, but I don't have to, because I'd know the Song of Time no matter what it sounded like.

This room was an exact replica of the Temple of Time, down even to the large carvings on the Door of Time. Wait, the Door of Time shouldn't be shut! That can't be right!

"Link?" a voice whispered from the corner. I spun around, instantly recognizing the voice and wishing to the Goddesses that I hadn't. There was a figure standing in the corner, her piercing blue eyes looking sadly at me. I drew closer to her, knowing that it wasn't safe for her and all the while wondering how she got here.

"D-did Koume..? Or...was it Koutake..?" I whispered, unable to gather my words. She shouldn't be here! I didn't know what those two hags were planning, but there was no way I'd let her get involved.

Her golden hair shifted as she slowly shook her head. "No, they didn't do anything. Link, come here, please."

I obliged. As I walked closer to her, I realized something. She looked different, somehow. I stopped, and she noticed.

"Is there something wrong, Link?" she asked.

"No," I replied, all the while looking at her closely. That's when it hit me. I all but stumbled back as realization hit me like a brick across the face.

"Something wrong?" she repeated.

"You-you're not Zelda!" I managed to get out.

"What do you mean? Of course I am."

"No, you're not, and I can prove it. Zelda has a small scar right there, under her left cheek. You, however, don't."

"Wha..?"

"Don't even try to fool _me_, of all people. You might look like Zelda from a distance, but there's no way you could fool me close up. I know Zelda better than anyone. There are certain things about her that no copy can fake, no matter how hard you try. The only person who could make a perfect fake of Zelda is me, and I lack the skill. As a matter of fact, there's about thirty or so other blunders you made in copying her.

"For instance," I started, "Zelda's hair is a bit longer than that. Her skin's a shade darker, she doesn't like wearing that sort of dress, her ears aren't that pointed, and, most importantly, she prefers to smile rather than whisper quietly in a sad voice."

I watched as a small scar appeared under her left cheek, her skin darkened a shade, her hair lengthened a tiny bit, and her ears lost that extra point. She smiled as she stood up, the dress changing to reflect what Zelda wore more often than not. "This better?"

I laughed. "You're still just an imitation. There's a few things I'm not just gonna toss out into the open when it comes to differences between you and Zelda."

"Oh? Zelda's negative qualities?"

"I wouldn't call them anywhere near negative."

"I see."

"I doubt it. Now, what is it that you want?"

She laughed and a sword shimmered into being in her hand. Moments later her outfit changed, copying what Zelda looked like when she was training. She looked close to Zelda, I'll admit, but there's just a few, erm, qualities that Zelda has that this copy couldn't mimic.

"You're not gonna fight me. You wouldn't dare hurt your love, now would you?"

"You're not Zelda. In fact, I'm starting to doubt the fact that you're a Hylian at all."

She stopped for a second, clearly surprised. "Wait, what?"

"You're not a Hylian," I repeated.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, this _is_ the Temple of Time, after all."

"So?"

"_So_, a Hylian would pay more attention when they make a replica of the Temple of Time. For instance, the three Spiritual Stones aren't here. The Door of Time is closed. Also, no Hylian would fight under the roof of the Temple of Time. If Ganondorf was a Hylian and we were in the Temple of Time, I wouldn't even look at him as if I wanted to fight. All Hylians are brothers and sisters under this roof, even if they are sworn enemies. As a matter of fact, you could probably shove a Hylian Ganondorf and me right next to each other and neither of us would mind."

"Strange custom," the fake Zelda replied.

"However," I said, stringing my bow, "Hylians have no qualms about fighting other races that don't share our beliefs." In one fluid motion, I notched an arrow and let it fly toward a dark corner of the Temple, catching on fire as it flew. It landed on Koutake's broom's tail, causing her to back away quickly.

Koume waved her hand and the flame vanished. "How did you know where we were?"

"Your voice. No matter how quiet you are, if you're using a dummy and throwing your voice, you're making sounds and Hylians are good at hearing sounds."

Koume vanished and Koutake nodded. "Clever, though you're not going to like this next part." She too vanished. I wasn't paying attention, though, because the Door of Time was opening.

The woman that walked in through the Door almost brought me to my knees in shock. The Zelda earlier may have been a copy, but _this_ one was the real deal, down to the last scar and latest bruise.

"Z-Zelda?" I stammered. "W-what are you doing here?" I rushed forward to her, worried that Koume and Koutake would be up to something soon and that it might put her in harm's way.

"Link, it's good to see that you're okay," she said, smiling.

"How did you get here?" I asked.

"I walked over to the Temple of Time. I thought the Goddesses had called me, so I went to check, and I found you."

"So, you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

I sighed. "That's good to hear. What about 'Lissa?"

"Lissa?" she asked. I blinked for a second and took a step back.

"Yeah, Elissa," I replied.

She thought for a moment. "Oh, sorry, I've not been feeling top notch recently. She's fine. She's looking forward to seeing you again, too."

I nodded. "Okay. So, shall we continue on?"

Zelda nodded and smiled at me again. "Let's get out of here."

So, we walked out of the Temple of Time and smack dab in the middle of a fully restored Hyrule.

"Wow..." I muttered, shocked.

"I guess you did it!" Zelda said happily. I couldn't help but laugh.

"I guess I did." I glanced over at Zelda just as she glanced over at me.

Good ol' Zelda. Cheerful, nice, happy, and always ready to make me feel better. Yet... there was something different about her. I didn't know what, but there was something off. Oh well, it might just be where I'm used to looking around in the Dark World.

"Come on," she urged, gently pushing me forward. "Let's go to the castle."

That sounded like a plan to me, and we strolled across Hyrule Castle Town to the large castle, imposing even when I hadn't seen it in forever. We slammed open the doors and burst in.

"I'm home!" I called out, glad to finally be able to say that. I collapsed down on one of the small couches that were scattered in the main room. Zelda flopped down next to me.

"It's nice to be back," she said as she leaned back.

"You said it," I replied. After a few minutes, I sighed. "You know, fighting those two really take it out of ya, even if there is no sword-to-broom fighting. I think I'm gonna rest. I'll see you in a bit, okay?"

She nodded and I absconded to my room.

**-----**

"So, what's the plan for today?" I asked. I had woken up a bit later and had come back to find Zelda already in the dining room, eating. I quickly joined her. "Romping around Hylia? Some more bludgeoning up at Kakariko? Sliding down Death Mountain?"

"Already so eager to leave the castle?" Zelda asked.

"No, but there's the whole of Hyrule out there now, so there's really no reason to stay in here when we could be enjoying it out there."

"I don't know... I kind've enjoy spending time around the castle. It has been so long, after all."

I nodded. "Yeah, you've got a point. Listen, there are a few things I need to check around the castle anyway. Mind wandering about by yourself for a little bit? A half-hour at the most, I promise."

She nodded as I stood up from the table. "Sure. Hurry back, though, okay?"

"You bet," I replied as I slid down the staircase. I took the familiar five turns that led to the training grounds and found it deserted. Not even a sword was out of place. A quick four more turns told me that Impa wasn't in the castle either; every time I entered Impa's room, she appeared out of nowhere to shoo me away. Ten more turns told me that the kitchen, guard towers, and barracks were all empty. Twelve more turns brought me back to the room I had left Zelda in, yet she was not there.

"Zelda?" I called, but received no answer. However, I _did_ hear the sound of someone hitting a suit of armor. I knew that corner, too, because I've hit that armor about fifty dozen times myself. It took me no longer than three minutes to get there and find Zelda literally wandering about the castle. I fell into step behind her.

"What're you looking for?" I asked.

She stopped. "Er, the kitchen."

"You do realize that the only thing this way is my room, right?"

"Oh. Yeah, I knew that."

"Sure ya did. Come on, I'll get you to the kitchen." There was that all too familiar brick again.

**-----**

I sat down at one of the tables across from her. "Listen, it's time to fess up."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean just that. You are Zelda, that I'll give you, but you're not my Zelda. Zelda knows the way around the castle better than I do, and I know this place like the back of my hand. Now, how exactly this is possible, I'm not sure, but I do know that you're not the Zelda I know."

She sighed. "Alright. You win. I'm Zelda, yes, but I'm not the Zelda you know. I'm the one you'd call Dark Zelda, or the opposite of your world's Zelda. It's the same theory of you and Dark Link, except that Dark Link got corrupted with Ganondorf's evil. I, however, have changed from my ways when the worlds collided."

"If you've changed, why are you here?"

"Koume and Koutake convinced me that it would be in Hyrule's interesst if you were kept away from it. Now that I think about it, though, you couldn't do much to Hyrule to endanger it worse than it is. It's on the verge of collapsing, and its getting weaker by the second. I don't know what Link did to Hyrule, but now that he moved everything, Hyrule's falling apart."

"Yeah, I've noticed," I responded glumly.

"You mean you're worried about what you call the Dark World, too?"

"Honestly? Not as much as my Hyrule, though it seems that your Hyrule and mine are in the same predicament. Dark Link moved your Hyrule from wherever it was and plopped it down on top of my Hyrule, erasing most of my Hyrule, or so it seemed. I think it's combining both our Hyrules, which would be catastrophic. The only reason it hasn't is because of the six Temples that keep my Hyrule running and two other bubbles of Hyrule keeps us seperate. Dark Link, when he was alive, tried his best to corrupt the Water Temple so it would give in."

"You mean Link was involved in all this?"

"You bet. He orchestrated it all, with me hounding him every step of the way. I was forced to kill him at the Water Temple to stop him."

"You mean... Link's... dead?" This was obviously a shock to her.

"Yeah," I replied. Now that I think of it, I really shouldn't have mentioned the fact that Dark Link was dead, considering how Zelda and I felt about each other. I guess it never occured to me that this Zelda might feel the same way about Dark Link.

She sighed. "Well, if that's true, then you're just trying to help me. I see that trying to keep you here away from the world is a mistake. Come, I can take you to the real Zelda and this Elissa you talk about. You will have to tell me who she is, because you seem as worried about her as one would their child, but I have borne no child, so neither has Zelda of your world. There is no Elissa in this world, either."

I nodded. "Sure thing. Agreed, she's not my blood child, but she's as close as possible. I do care for her as one would their own child, even if she is not. It is strange, though, that she has no counterpart. We'll figure it out, anyway. Now, how do we get out of what I assume is a fake Hyrule?"

"This way," Zelda said, standing up and walking over to a blank wall. She pushed on it and it gave way, shimmering in the light. She walked through and I followed her...

...Into the middle of the Kokiri Forest. She nodded and we walked to the edge of the Deku Barrier. I started to step through, but stopped when she did.

"Something wrong?"

"How will your Zelda feel when she sees me?"

"I'll tell her that you helped me out of a trap and she'll be fine with you."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

And with that, we walked through.


	19. Reunion

**A/N: Once again, I apologize for the severe gap in time between these last few chapters and the others. I've not been feeling up to writing this past month or so, but I'm back on track now. I found my inspiration again, I guess. Thanks.**

**Chapter Nineteen – Reunited**

It had been a day and a half since the person who called himself Tsugaru had dropped by. I had been hanging about, learning the Kokiri's form of magic, not that I was any good at using it. The best I had done was convincing a tree to move a branch half a centimeter up. Yeah, not the best in the world.

Of course, it was while I was just hanging out, literally, that Link decided to walk through the barrier. I jumped down out of the tree and rushed over to him, wrapping my arms around him.

"Link! It's so good to see you!"

"It's good to see you, too," he replied, his arms around me as well.

We stood there for a few moments when there was the sound of a second person walking through the barrier. I looked up and came face to face with myself.

I released Link and stared at myself as the other me stood at the edge of the barrier, obviously nervous.

"Um, hello?" the second me said cautiously.

"Er, hello," I replied. "Uh, who are you?"

"Zelda, Queen of Hyrule," she replied. "And you?"

"Zelda, Queen of Hyrule," I responded. It wasn't five seconds before we both burst out laughing. After we were finished, I looked up at her.

"I assume you're this world's Zelda?" I asked. She nodded. "Been taking good care of Link?" She nodded. "Didn't corrupt his poor little soul, did you?"

"Define 'corrupt,'" she responded.

I don't know why, but that was a hilarious comment. It was a few more minutes before we stopped laughing.

Link groaned. "Goddesses, what have I done? Wait, I know, I've brought two indestructible forces right next to each other. Hey, at least they get along."

The other Zelda laughed. "_Baezu haru tain bii,_" she replied. I couldn't help but laugh again.

"What?" Link asked, confused.

"'That's what you get,'" I translated. "It's Old Hylian. I take it you're well-versed?"

"_Alu. Sosta tain?"_

I nodded. "_Alu._"

Link groaned again. "Just tell me where 'Lissa is, please. And in normal Hylian, okay?"

"Oh, alright. She's over by the Deku Tree, or somewhere in his branches."

"Thank you," he said, sighing, as the other Zelda and I jumped into a conversation in the language of our ancestors.

**(-)**

I left the two jabbering in that old language, while I looked for 'Lissa.

Fortunately, I did not have to look long, because the second I got close enough to see the Kokiri, she jumped down out of the tree and rushed over to me.

"Link!" she shouted. I scooped her up in my arms and swung her around, holding her tight.

"It's so good to see you, 'Lissa," I said as she giggled. I stopped spinning and sat her down. I sat next to her. "So, have you kept Zelda in line for me?"

"Mm-hmm. You bet! So, where did you go?"

"I had to do a bit of exploring. There's a few things I'll need to do some time, but not just yet. I'm gonna be here for a couple of days. Oh, guess what."

"What?"

"I brought a friend."

"Really? A friend! Can I go meet him? Or is it a her?"

Huh. She seemed to have lost that 'w' thing. I guess the Kokiri had worked their tricks on her. They never did like talking like kids, after all. "It's a her. Come on, I'll introduce you."

I walked Elissa back to Zelda and Zelda. Luckily for me, there were still a few profound differences between the two, such as the fact that my heart soars when my Zelda looks over at me. I smiled as the two turned to look at Elissa and me.

"Zelda, this is Elissa. Elissa, this is my friend Zelda."

"I know Zelda!" Elissa retorted. "Who's the other one?"

The Dark World Zelda stepped forward and curtsied. "I am Zelda as well."

"Oh. Well that's just confusing!"

We broke out laughing. It was amazing what Elissa could come up with.

"Well, there's got to be some differences between us," Zelda commented.

"Hrm." Elissa appeared deep in thought. After a moment, she pointed at Zelda and said, "You're a bit bigger."

"Hey!" Zelda returned, thinking that she had been insulted and called fatter than her counterpart.

She's still the same 'Lissa, for sure. Just old enough to understand about everything yet put little of it to use. Zelda and Zelda were starting to argue about whether she was right or not. I was smart and left the area.

When I was far enough away, I glanced back just in time to see Elissa point at Zelda and say something else, causing Zelda to blush. I couldn't help but laugh, even though no one could hear me. Elissa was now making some other comment that was making both Zeldas' faces red.

I kept walking. Fortunately, Father rumbled, catching my attention before I had to return to the girls.

"Link, it is good to see you alive and well."

"You can say that again," I sighed, sitting down on one of his roots.

"Have you figured out how to undo the problem that plagues Hyrule?"

"Well, my best bet right now is to finish off Koume and Koutake again. Why, you got a better way?"

"Well, a little under a week ago, the Queen and I were talking abut just that when a stranger calling himself Tsugaru appeared. He said something about something he called the Tsugaru Orb. Zelda got into a heated argument with him, though. He called her Fire-Daughter, which was strange."

"Wait, Fire-Daughter? As in the daughter of the Fire Lord?"

"Well, I would assume, but I've never heard her father called the Fire Lord. King of Red Lions, yes, but never Fire Lord."

"That's because he wasn't. The Fire Lord was one of the first Kings of the Fair Land, what I'm assuming they call Hyrule. It was a popular novel back when we were still in the Cursed World. Long story short, guy A and guy B, Day-King and Moon-Son, had a great war between them and one of them was banished to another place, some sort of alternate dimension where he could bend the laws of time and space. They both had sons around the same time, too. The first guy, I've forgotten his name-"

"Tomoshibi and Kuragari."

"Yeah, those are it. Tomoshibi Day-King found out that his lands were now cursed by the gods because he had threatened to behead his brother himself. So, in order to avoid this curse coming to fruition, he gave up the throne to a man called Hareon. Hareon was a just man, but strict. Hyrule flourished under him, though. As time passed, a son was born to Hareon. I assume that Kuragari, too, ceded his throne so he could make sure the curse came true. Either way, Hareon and Kuragari's replacements had sons at the same time as well. Hareon named his Dovolgida. The book translated it as-"

"Fire Son," Father finished.

"Yeah, that's right. How'd you figure it out?"

"In Old Hylian, Dovol means fire. Gida means son. Fire Son."

"Ah. Wait, Old Hylian?"

"Correct."

"That's weird. Either way, Hareon's counterpart in Kuragari's kingdom had a son, but this one was named Eizugida, which I assume has a Hylian translation as well?"

"Ice Son."

"Yup. Well, D.G. and E.G. both ruled their kingdoms well. However, when the time came for them to be replaced by their heirs, neither had one. However, they both had a child. Girls, as it would be. Neither D.G. or E.G. knew how well they'd be received by the kingdoms, but they took the risk and gave them the throne. That's where the third book ended. I was waiting for the fourth book to come out when the curse was lifted."

"I think I know how the story ends," Father said after a second.

"Oh? Tell me, please."

"The woman appointed Queen of the kingdom, the Fair Land, you said it was called?"

"Yeah."

"The woman appointed Queen of the Fair Land wasn't exactly supported by all of her subjects. About half of them refused to come to her aid when her cousin attacked, choosing to side with him. However, her cousin's attempts on her kingdom were stopped when she slew him in a battle. For her bravery and amazing concentration in the war, she was given the title 'Queen of Fire' after her father's name, Fire Son."

"Y'know, that sounds familiar."

"It should sound familiar to anyone that takes more than a common interest in the Royal Family. I myself met this Queen of Fire once."

"You mean she was real?"

"Of course. By Hylian standards, she was one of the most beautiful women to walk these lands. Our Queen Zelda is the only one to rival that beauty. The Queen of Fire came in here, asking me for my blessing on the throne. I had heard of the stirrings in the West that there was another person vying for the throne, so I agreed and promised that she would have all the might of the Kokiri Forest at her back, which at the time wasn't much. The Kokiri couldn't leave the Forest and any of the creatures in here that can aren't under my control. She took it happily, though, and left. She returned on countless occasions and did many great things for the Kokiri Forest. She declared it off limits to anyone not under my dominion unless it was a member of the Royal Family. This stopped the construction workers coming in daily to try and haul off trees."

"And this still holds today?" I asked, surprised.

"Of course. Why?"

"Well, I'm in here, aren't I? And there's 'Lissa..."

"When you first were introduced to the Forest, you wouldn't have made it if I hadn't put you under my dominion. That's why you were raised as a Kokiri. This still holds today as well, and you are officially a part of the Kokiri even today. You still abide by Kokiri customs and obey the few Kokiri rules, yes?"

"Every single one." After a moment's thought, I added, "Well, almost every one. There's one or two that I can't bring myself to hold to now that I've discovered I'm a Hylian."

"Oh? And which ones would these be?"

"How did you put it..? Oh yes, 'A Kokiri must never partake of anything from an animal, or anything that is not grown peacefully from the ground.' That one I had to break, mainly because I didn't know about it when we were all cursed and when we came back, I still remembered the luxury of meat."

"Well, few Hylians choose to follow the Kokiri path on that respect. The Kokiri mainly manage because they don't need the nutrients from the food they eat. If they desire, all they have to do is sit down and draw on the nutrients from their original Tree. Now, what other rules can you not hold to?"

"Well, nonviolence, obviously. If I did, both Sarah and Zelda would be dead, as would I."

"Understandable. Any others?"

"No," I replied. I don't like lying to Father, but sometimes you have to, especially about rules you might be breaking.

"So, since you abide by _most_ of the Kokiri customs, you are still authorized to be considered a subject of the Kokiri Forest until you decide otherwise. Elissa, however, is not part of the Kokiri, and I cannot declare her such because of her young age."

"Wait, she's too young? Didn't you make me part of the Kokiri when I was a baby?"

"Yes, but I had no choice with you. Normally, to be declared an honorary Kokiri, you have to consciously choose to be so. In your case, you would have died had I not taken you in, so I was forced to break this custom. I tried to integrate you into Kokiri lifestyle, even going as far to convince the other Kokiri that you should be treated as they would treat each other, even if you weren't a Kokiri."

"Wait, they knew?" I asked suddenly.

"Yes."

"Then if they were supposed to treat me like a Kokiri, why were they so mean to me back then?"

"Mido took it too seriously. He treated you exactly as he would a Kokiri, to the letter. However, since you could not have a fairy due to the fact that you weren't a Kokiri, Mido treated you as he would any Kokiri without a fairy. Unfortunately, Kokiri without fairies were never good enough for Mido. They are a part of what keeps the Kokiri alive, after all. Mido, however, learned the error of his ways, as you know.

"Elissa, though, is in no major danger and because of that I can't declare her a subject of the Kokiri without her complete and fully understanding consent. It doesn't seem like she needs it, though, because there's no problem with her staying here. Usually, non-Kokiri are thrown out by the Kokiri magic that envelops the Forest, but instead of being booted out by it, she's embraced it and can even use it a little."

"Oh really? Who would've thunk it."

"Link, whether or not you see it now, that child is special. Not exactly special as in the way you were special, but she is special in and of itself."

"According to the other Zelda, there's no counterpart named Elissa in the Dark World."

"Interesting. I shall have to discuss this with this world's Zelda."

"Well, here's your chance," I replied, watching Elissa dash past him, followed by the two Zeldas.

"_Alede bae ikron!" _Zelda shouted, running after Elissa.

_"Chen genje!"_ Elissa shouted back. "_Oyta hise chen!"_

"Girls!" Father echoed. "Calm down and tell me what's going on."

Zelda stopped chasing Elissa and turned to Father. She started to say something, but glanced at me. She then rattled off some sentences in what I assumed was Old Hylian. After a few seconds, I gave up trying to guess at what it meant.

Father, though, seemed to understand it all, even responding in it. Zelda sighed, glared at Elissa, and walked away from them.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"Elissa said something that Zelda didn't wholly agree with."

"And it made her that mad?"

"It's a sensitive spot with Zelda."

"What, did Elissa actually call her fat?"

"No."

"Oh. Well, what was it?"

"You'd have to ask her."

"It might be a smart idea to go and calm her down," I noted, standing up. Father nodded, showering the area in leaves. With that, I left to find Zelda.

**-----**

I found her in some sort of mini-house up in Father's branches. She was sulking in one of the corners. I walked over to her and sat down next to her.

"What's wrong?"

"Link, mind if I ask you a question?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Would you still love me even if I was really, really ugly?"

"Of course I would."

"Even if when I get older I shrivel up into some old raisined hag?"

"So long as you don't pick up a broom and throw fireballs at me, that's okay. I love you for who you are on the inside. True, your looks are a plus, but they just add to the package, not define it. You could look however you wanted and I'd still love you because it's your personality I fell in love with."

Zelda nodded as I wrapped an arm around her waist, sliding her closer to me. "You really mean that? You wouldn't want to ditch me for a better-looking girl if I ever got ugly?"

"Zelda, I told you, I love you. Nothing can ever change that. Even if you looked worse than Koutake, I would still love you and would stand by your side, possibly helping you stand at that point. I would never want to be with one of the run of the mill girls everywhere else if I had the choice to be with you, no matter how you look. You'll always be you, and it was you I fell in love with and have loved since we first met."

"Link..."

I smiled at her, taking her hand in mine. We sat there for a moment as she digested everything I had just said. She nodded and laid her head on my chest. I knew right then that if I didn't do something, she'd be fast asleep. Luckily for her, I was just fine with this. A few seconds passed and I felt her head droop, sliding into a more natural position, and a more comfortable one. Her golden hair cascaded down my left side, and I noticed that it was softer than normal. It must be the Kokiri water. It wasn't long before I, too, slept.

**-----**

I awoke to a slight shift under me. Slowly opening my eyes, I took in my surroundings carefully. I was curled up next to Link, my head on his chest. He had an arm protectively around me, holding me close to him. My right arm was under him, and it took quite a bit of effort not to wake him as I extricated myself.

As I stood, though, the 'sleeping' Link smiled. "Good morning."

"You were wide awake the whole time, weren't you?" I asked.

"Yup."

"Thanks for last night," I said quietly.

"All I did was tell you the truth."

"Yeah. Thanks."

He waved it off as if it was nothing. Good, predictable Link. Always there when I need him. He's even smart enough to know exactly what to say, even if he doesn't half the time. Oh well. Nobody's perfect.

"Isn't that right, Link?" I asked for no apparent reason, not really expecting him to agree to the things I'd been thinking since he didn't know what they were.

He nodded. "Yeah, but I do a pretty good job of it."

Sometimes it's uncanny how good he is at guessing what I'm thinking. I wonder if he really _does_ know, sometimes, because there's nobody that good. Maybe it's just coincidence.

Either way, I watched as Link jumped up and onto his feet, almost crashing into the wall as he did so. Yup, it has to be coincidence.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion. Link and I rushed down to the ground where the Kokiri and Elissa were already gathered.

"Link, Zelda," the Deku Tree said, relieved. "Things are getting worse. The Spirit Temple's barrier against the Dark World just gave in. Pretty soon the other Temples will follow. Once they are gone, the only two safe places will be here and with Lord Jabu-Jabu, and I don't know how long we'll hold out."

There was another explosion and the Deku Tree sighed. "The Shadow Temple's gone to the Dark World, now."

Beside me, Link drew his sword. I knew what he was planning, but this time there was to be no wandering about. I turned to him.

"Link..."

He took my hand in his. "Zelda, I have to do this. I'm not going to let the Kokiri die here in the Dark World. I'm not going to let Elissa be thrown into the evil that she barely escaped the first time." He stopped for a second and gripped my hand tighter. "I'm not going to let you be stranded in the Dark World."

I nodded. "I know. Just... be careful, okay? I'd rather have you with me in the Dark World than be safe in Hyrule without you."

He nodded, released my hand, and stepped forward toward the Deku Tree.

"Alright, where are the surges coming from?"

* * *

**A/N: Okay. First off, I want to put it here that the Old Hylian that I have in the story is Sarinilli's Hyrule Realm's Hylian language. That is, by far, the most complete vocabulary for Hylian that I've seen. Just giving credit where credit is due. Secondly, once again, I wish to apologize for not updating. With the posting of Nineteen, this, Twenty should very well be underway and hopefully, so will Twenty-One. See you all then!**


	20. Twinrova

Chapter Twenty – Twinrova

Father showed me where the bursts of energy were coming from. See, in order to override the power of the Temples, there had to be some sort of massive power overlay. Simply put, in order to beat something strong you have to use something stronger. To destroy the magical power that protected the Temples, there had to be some sort of gigantic magical surge to overpower the Temples' magic. Luckily for me, Father still could check the surrounding areas for these magical bursts, and I was heading toward the source of them.

Not only had the Spirit Temple and the Shadow Temple given in, but the Fire Temple had also gone and the Water Temple was due to collapse any second. The Forest Temple was failing fast as well. I didn't even want to know what would happen once Koume and Koutake focused their strength on Jabu-Jabu and Father.

I dashed across Dark Hyrule Field, keeping an eye out for Koume and Koutake. Suddenly, I seemed to have found whatever I was looking for, because I smashed into an invisible wall face-first. I was told later that it was a hilarious thing to see. As I recovered, I looked around, seeing nothing. I would have thought I had imagined it if it wasn't for the fact that I couldn't walk forward anymore. Isn't that just great?

So, with that not being an option, I skirted around the strange invisible wall. After passing the same boulder twelve times at the least, I decided that my plan wasn't going to work. I still had a trick or two up my sleeve, though. One of them happened to be my all-important bow and arrow. I strung the bow and launched a Fire Arrow at the invisible wall. The fire hit the area and shot off of the arrow, but there was no visible damage. Well, for that matter, there was no visible anything, but nothing changed either way. I tried an Ice Arrow next with the same result. I tried another two Fire Arrows and Ice Arrows, one after the other. The first three turned out as effective as the others, but the fourth gave an audible crack as it hit the wall and stuck. There were also strange cracks running through the air, as if someone had broken the very sky.

I took out the Megaton Hammer and gleefully swung away at the cracks. After about eighty hits, the cracks gave way, showing a small patch of air that actually led somewhere, namely into a pitch black room. 'Smoothing out' the edges of the hole took another sixty swings and left a me-sized gap in the invisible wall. Placing the Hammer back in my bag, I walked through the hole and into the darkness that descended on me like a ravenous Wolfos.

Inside, the lights kicked in after a second. From one corner of the room, I watched as one of the flames grew bigger and brighter. On the other side of the room, a second flame ignited, but this one turned blue and looked frozen. They both grew bigger and bigger until they exploded, Koume and Koutake spewing forth. They flew around the room a time or two before hovering in front of me.

I clapped. "Nice performance."

"Shut up!" Koume shouted.

"You just barraged yourself into your own doom, you know," Koutake said to me, also ignoring Koume.

"You're the ones who made the mistake of tackling the barriers around the Temples." I heard another explosion and a second sound, like tons of water evaporating all at once. "There goes the Water Temple," I added.

"Now all that's left is the Forest Temple and we'll be finished!"

"Wrong, broom-head. The Forest Temple isn't the only barrier left. For one, the Temple of Time still has a barrier. Secondly, Father is alive and well, along with all the Kokiri."

"What!? How is that possible! The plans were perfect!" Koume shouted. "The Deku Tree doesn't have enough Kokiri magic to fuel a shield against the Dark World for five minutes, let alone repel our combined forces while protecting those Kokiri brats!"

I drew my sword. "Watch who you're calling a brat, you hag!"

"Oh, that's right. You were raised as one of them, weren't you? Well, I hate to tell you this, but all of those Kokiri are going to die after we kill you. The Deku Tree will wither with lack of water and the Kokiri will perish once their guardian is gone. They'll be little kids exposed to the wrath of the Dark World. Most of them will probably just give up with the Deku Tree, but you know that some of them will have to become bloodthirsty savages to survive here. They'll abandon all of their Kokiri ways and by the time they realize that the only reason they're still alive is because of their Kokiri ways, they'll all-"

"Just shut up!" I shouted, one of my Fire Arrows slicing through Koutake's broom handle. The fire spread, but Koume put it out before it could leave lasting damage.

"Seems we've hit a sore spot. You know, I just remembered something. That poor girl, Saria, what'll she do? She's already been spurned by the one man she loves and now she's about to be tossed knee-deep in horror beyond anything she's ever seen. She can't defend herself, and once poor Link here is out of the picture, there'll be nobody to protect her. I guess then we'll just have to put her out of her-"

"What do you two idiots not understand about shutting up!?" I exclaimed, launching another Fire Arrow. However, much to my dismay, this Fire Arrow missed it mark, and not only by a few inches. This arrow ended up bouncing off of the wall above Koutake.

"Well then! It seems the boy has a bit of spunk after all! Insults will not get you very far, though. Calling us idiots serves no purpose."

"It's funny," I offered.

"Not to us. Now, as for the Queen and that mini-brat, I think they're in there, too. So, when the Deku Tree dies, we'll fly in, grab the Queen, and haul her off to our new castle. That little girl of yours will be stuck with the now-bloodthirsty Kokiri, and you know she won't-"

Three more Fire Arrows mysteriously found their way toward Koutake, but each missed their mark even worse than the last. Koutake really got a kick out of this.

"You can't even aim right! And here we thought you were a threat. Come on, Koume, let's go." They flew through a door that slammed behind them.

I ran over and kicked it open, quickly finding myself hovering over a giant pit. I dived off of the tiny ledge and onto the solid ground in front of me. This room looked awfully familiar. There was a square platform in the center with four smaller squares surrounding it. As Koume and Koutake burst into sight, I realized that this room was an exact replica of the last time I had fought them. can't get over the past freaks.

I watched as they circled me, launching off their trademark balls of fire and ice. I dodged them as I realized that I didn't have the Mirror Shield like I did the last time I fought them. I jumped back, avoiding one of the fireballs. As I did so, a comment of Zelda's sprang to my mind.

_'Why didn't you just use the Fire and Ice Arrows? It would have made things a lot easier.'_

That was it! That conversation about me holding back in fights had given me my answer. With the Mirror Shield, it never occurred to me to counter their magic with my own. I mean, I enjoy launching an arrow or two at them here and there, but they're usually fast enough to avoid them. That is, if they're expecting it...

I strung my bow and readied an arrow. Just as Koume launched a fireball at me, I launched an Ice Arrow at her. The Ice Arrow tore through the fireball and sent her flying back, encased in ice. Koutake instantly flew over and started to de-ice Koume, but she soon found a Fire Arrow sticking out of her broom. Unfortunately, the ice melted and Koume was able to put out Koutake's fire. So, as Koume flew back up, I launched another arrow. This one missed by a hair, but Koume stopped, not even noticing the arrow. The arrow flew up and froze the rocks above us, sending one falling down, and sending Koume flying due to the sudden introduction of a large boulder next to her on her broom. As Koume flew up, I set Koutake's broom on fire again. Right when Koume noticed the fire, she found herself encased again.

Koutake flew over to Koume and started thawing her, but her broom burnt through first, sending her falling to the ground. Trying to be nice, I pinned Koutake against the wall with a normal arrow. It had pierced her robe and stuck into the wall, effectively hanging her by her 'collar' of sorts. By this time, Koume was up and mad. She rounded on me with hundreds of fireballs. I naturally dodged them all, managing to hit Koume with another Ice Arrow, as well. By the time Koume thawed again, she was fed up.

"Koutake!" she shouted. "Come on! Let's take care of him once and for all!"

Koutake nodded and her broom appeared out of nowhere. She unpinned herself and took off toward Koume. They were on a crash course collision run toward each other and as they made contact, there was a blinding flash and Twinrova stood before me.

"I expected something like this." I shot an Ice Arrow and Fire Arrow at the oversized Gerudo. She barely dodged them, but retaliated by launching a burning stream of fire toward me.

First rule: I do not like fire. It's okay here and there, but only when I can control it. However, when there's a giant stream of fire heading towards me, I'm not that big of a fan. So, I did the only thing I could think of. I unloaded about five Ice Arrows right in front of me, creating an ice shield of sorts. The fire melted it, but the water from the ice put the fire out. Twinrova growled and tried ice.

I can deal with ice a lot better. I aimed and let a Fire Arrow fly straight up the blast of ice. Sadly, the ice got to me before the Arrow hit her. The chilling wind swept over me, chilling me to the bone. I could only watch as the ice coated me, covering me. I couldn't move and the ice was getting colder by the second. Shivering in silence, I glared at Twinrova, who were quite enjoying this, at least until my Fire Arrow smashed into her.

She shrieked (not a nice sound) and retaliated with a blast of fire. The fire engulfed me, melting the ice. By the time the ice was melted, the fire was gone. I gasped for air, falling to my knees. Never again...

I stood up, drawing the Master Sword. They had taken a second to recuperate and I was going to take full advantage of it. I rushed forward, jumping into the air and bringing the Master Sword down, slicing into Twinrova as I did so.

I jumped up again and froze, metaphorically. There was an explosion and the sound of trees whispering amongst themselves instantly ceased. Enraged, I attacked Twinrova again, but she flew into the air just as I did so. I jumped back onto the main platform.

"Ha! The Forest Temple's gone!" Twinrova shouted. Now for the Deku Tree!" She seemed to concentrate for a moment. As she did so, though, she gasped and looked back at me. "You! What have you done?!"

"Me? Nothing. Yet." I strung my bow silently, drawing two arrows from my quiver. As Twinrova started concentrating again, I used every drop of magic I had left to enchant the two arrows. One instantly flared up with flame like I had never seen on a Fire Arrow. The other emanated such a chill that I was concerned that it would put out the Fire Arrow. I aimed them at Twinrova and let go.

The two arrows tore through the air, the Fire Arrow striking its mark first. Twinrova was engulfed in a fireball of sorts just as the Ice Arrow hit, encasing the fire and Twinrova in ice. The fire, strangely, raged on even inside the ice, which didn't seem like it would melt even with fire inside it.

There was a bright flash of light and the ice shattered, quenching the fire. Koume and Koutake fell from the sky, unconscious, and landed harshly on the ground. Walking past them, I threw open the next door and stepped in. Ominously, the door slammed shut behind me, plunging me in darkness.


	21. The Darkened Room

**A/N: Sorry! The site wouldn't let me upload the chapter, I don't know why. It just now let me, so here! Sorry it took so long!

* * *

**

**Chapter Twenty-One - The Darkened Room**

I was plunged into total and complete darkness, or at least it seemed so. I could see myself and my stuff, but everything else was black, as if it absorbed all light. I had an eerie feeling that the walls and floor were trying to absorb whatever kept me visible. Trying to shake the feeling, I walked forward until I reached what I figured was the center of the room. As I walked forward, however, I thought I saw something move behind me. Spinning around, I saw two giant red eyes near the door from which I had entered.

"Welcome, Link, to my Room of Darkness. Here you will see what it's really like to live amongst shadows. Now, I believe you have something of mine, and I want it back."

As I stared in shock, Dark Link suddenly appeared from the darkness and filled in the body that the eyes belonged to. I drew the Master Sword and glared at Dark Link.

"Just give it up! This time I plan on finishing you once and for all."

"Link, when will you realize that your efforts are in vain? I cannot be killed while you live. The only way to defeat me is for you to die, and then I'd still live until someone struck the fatal blow. Considering that no one has matched you in swordplay, I doubt that would ever happen."

"Fine then, turn Hyrule back and run away for a few hundred years and I won't butcher you. Deal?"

"No deal. Now, I believe that you have something that's mine."

I felt the wrenching from my pack moments before I connected the dots. I tried to stop my bag from ripping, but instead the bag tore open anyway and the dark sword shot from it to Dark Link, who grabbed it and walked toward me.

Dark Link and I circled around each other, each of us waiting for the opportune moment to strike. I found the first opening, lunging toward Dark Link, my sword biting through Dark Link's partially existing form, causing Dark Link to wince and pull back. This gave me yet another chance for attack, which I developed into a long string of moves. Pretty soon, though, Dark Link managed to gain the upper hand and push me back. Each cut, tear, and gash reverberated through me. Channeling the pain into my fighting, I pushed for the offense again, forcing Dark Link to defend.

It went like this for what I perceived as several hours, though it could have possibly only been a few minutes or possibly even days or weeks. I had lost all track of time, as well as track of anything else. All that mattered was my sword as it cut through the air and sliced deep into Dark Link. Blood flew, though all light seemed to be sucked out of it as it fell from us. I knew only that I could not lose this time. If I lost, all of Hyrule would be gone. All the Kokiri would vanish, the Deku Tree would wither and die, and Zelda and Elissa would be exposed to the Dark World in its purest form. Neither would live long, even if they did find some sort of shelter. Here in the Dark World, even the best of allies fell into the worst of enemies. I knew from experience that in the Dark World, the Zora Domain not only housed the Zora, but their evil cousins as well. The Zola, as they were called to distinguish them from their Zora relatives, were one of the few races to willingly help Ganon. The Gorons, though, were no longer in the Dark World, in a way. During Ganon's first imprisonment, they were the only race to refuse him and because of this, he turned them all to stone. Sadly enough, Darunia had probably suffered the same fate once entering the City, falling under Ganon's endless curse. The Hylians, however, had a small settlement, but they had been reduced to thieves, much like the Gerudo had been. The Gerudo had befriended Ganon instantly, so there was no question what would happen to Zelda and Elissa there.

I once again turned to the offensive, causing as much damage as I could to Dark Link, who for once seemed to be weakening. The fight once again dragged on.

**-----**

I could feel each blow now. My strength was gone. I had been reduced to fighting off of sheer anger for Dark Link. As Dark Link parried yet another blow from me, he laughed, though I could hear the straining in his voice.

"What did I tell you? I can't be beaten as long as you're alive."

I grunted, trying to hastily tie up a plan that very well could be my last. "That may be so, Dark Link, but I swear to you that I'm not willingly leaving this room until you are dead. You will fall, even if I have to take you down with me." I gathered every last bit of strength into his arms and swung the Master Sword sideways.

The Master Sword was too far to actually reach Dark Link, but to play along, he rose up the darkened sword to block the seemingly feeble blow.

It turned out that the energy that I had drawn together was just enough. The Master Sword cut across the Dark Master Sword. There was a sudden rush of wind as the Dark Master Sword drew the air around it toward itself. With a soundless explosion, the air shot away from the broken sword, shattering it further. I felt the shattered pieces drill into me, burning as they drained energy from my overdrawn body. A bright white light filled the room as I felt my grasp on life fade.


	22. A Once Great Hero

**A/N: And as a side note, Gabrielus, I have thoroughly read and aptly considered the Kataan dialect. It, however firm the foundation, does not have many words and phrases yet. For this story, I needed words over ideas and because of such, I opted for the one I could use better at that given moment. I don't plan on using _any_ version of Hylian much, unless it really calls for it or I feel like goofing off and having a touch of fun. I just thought I'd explain my motives there. I wish to put it on the record that I have nothing against the Kataan dialect of Hylian nor the dictionary provided by Sarinilli's site. In fact, I quite enjoy pulling up Kasuto's grammar pages and studying a while and delight in poring over the pages and pages of Hylian words featured in the Hyrule Realm. (No, I'm not sucking up; I really _do_ enjoy learning these two different versions of Hylian created by two masters of language such as Kasuto of Kataan and Sarinilli (of the Realm of Hyrule?).)**

** Now, in light of the fact that I haven't once done a disclaimer, I wish to add that I don't own Link or Zelda unless it's a Tuesday or Thursday. Ganondorf's mine on Mondays and Dark Link belongs to me on Saturdays. The Deku Tree lets me borrow the Kokiri every other Friday and Elissa's my Hylian publisher. Koume and Koutake hang out with me on the Fridays that the Kokiri aren't here. Dark Zelda comes over on Wednesdays, as do two other characters I haven't introduced yet. Anyone else is mine on Sundays, except the third Sunday, which is when Sarah's mine, because she doesn't get grouped with the Kokiri right now. I have a two-year contract of all this, signed by Impa personally, so ha! Also, Link's personality, dialogue, and voice belong to me permanently, mainly because I was the one who gave a voice to the silent Link. Any questions?**

**Chapter Twenty-Two – A Once Great Hero**

It was just another day in the Kokiri Forest. I had taken four or five trips out into the Dark World, and that was precisely what I was doing now.

This time, though, I had noticed something spectacular: a small flower growing near the edge of the dark part of the Kokiri Forest. I continued into Dark Hyrule Field, following a strange trail, as if something had been dragged from that small flower. I followed the path, but stopped when I heard a spark of flame igniting. I spun around as flames shot from the burning flower, setting the all but dead grass on fire. It surrounded me, forcing me to run. I knew that the Deku Tree could protect me against the flames, so I ran toward the forest. Big mistake.

The flames seemed to follow me, devouring the dead and rotting trees as it grew higher. Finally, I was forced to dive into one of the small holes that littered the Forest.

I am the Queen of Hyrule! I shouldn't have to hide like this! I hold dominion over all that graces Hyrule with a step!

Concentrating on those thoughts, I drew courage from them and poked my head out of the hole.

The fire had burnt itself out, leaving ashes galore behind. I crawled out from the hole, trying to rid myself of the uncanny feeling that I had seen this all before. I trudged forward, trying to find a part of the Field left untouched. As I rounded the top of a hill, I stopped dead in my tracks as I realized why I remembered all of this. The glint of a sword flashed momentarily across my face as the dim sun shed light on the other side of the hill.

**-----**

The Dark World Zelda rushed to me when I entered the Deku Tree's Clearing. She stared, agape, as I struggled to walk forward, toward the Deku Tree. After a minute, I arrived, laying down what I had been carrying.

"Zelda..." the Deku Tree whispered. "Is he..?"

"There's no pulse and he's not breathing," I replied, glancing down.

It was Link, lying there atop that hill. It was Link, lying here in front of me. He looked white as a ghost, and for as far as I could tell, he was dead. I couldn't believe it, but here was proof. His tunic was caked with blood and he was covered with cuts. He wasn't breathing, yet there was something strange about him, as if it was okay that he wasn't. I watched in amazement as a touch of color returned to his pallid face, though nothing else changed.

"You don't think..?" I asked quietly.

"It may be possible. Link's survived through more precarious situations."

I nodded and lifted him up again, this time helped by Sarah, who had appeared from nowhere again. Together we carried him over to one of the tree house things and laid him down in there. Sarah offered to help in any way she could, but I nodded and said not now. She left.

I removed Link's bloodstained tunic from him and tossed it aside. Carefully, I sat him up and started to wash the numerous cuts, gashes, and slashes. If Link _was_ alive, it would be awful if he got infected and died soon after getting better.

It was long, arduous work, but I knew that if Link survived, it would all be worth it. The Forest didn't have anything I could use as disinfectant, but the pure spring water seemed potent enough. I cleaned each of the cuts, tapping into the magic which I had picked up years ago, or so it seemed. I could only heal the surface, but luckily the cuts were either too shallow or away from vital organs. However, I soon ran into a problem. Magic gets its power from the user's stamina. What's used must be paid for. I was running out of magic and Link wasn't finished. Concentrating all my energy, I funneled it into Link's body, watching the small cuts shrink and vanish. The bruises became lighter as well and right before I passed out from exhaustion, I could've sworn I heard Link breathe.

**-----**

The sun woke me up the next morning. I sat up, making sure not to hurt Link. He hadn't moved, but he at least looked alive and was breathing, albeit at a much slower pace than normal. Rising, I changed and climbed down to where Sarah and the other Zelda were sitting.

"Link any better?" Sarah asked.

"He's breathing and I manage to treat most of his cuts and bruises. He'll live, but he's not going to wake up any time soon."

"We have some good news, though," the other Zelda said. Glancing up at the sky, she nodded. "Listen carefully."

A few seconds later, there was the sound as if thousands of tons of water had flooded an area nearby. "What was that?" I asked.

Sarah smiled. "That was the Water Temple. Now all of Lake Hylia is back to normal," she explained. "It's been happening all morning. First the Forest Temple spread, returning the Lost Woods to normal. After the Forest Temple, the Fire Temple overtook the Goron City and in theory the Shadow Temple regained control of Kakariko. The Spirit Temple claimed the Gerudo Fortress again as well. Now all the Temples, save the Temple of Time, have taken back their own areas."

"And of the Temple of Time?" I asked.

"It hasn't changed. It never gave ground to Koume and Koutake, and it isn't gaining it now."

"What about the Kokiri Barrier? Has it extended?"

"I will try in a bit, my Queen," the Deku Tree replied suddenly. "I am letting the Forest Temple reach me first so I can draw upon the powers of the Elder Trees near the Temple."

Perfect! Everything was returning to normal! Soon I would have Hyrule back like it was and everything would be back to normal! I couldn't wait until Link and I... Wait, Link...

"Have you figured out anything about what's wrong with Link?" I asked the Deku Tree.

"I have not," he replied.

Suddenly, a rush of cold wind swept across me, sending chills down my spine, literally. I turned toward the wind and saw someone walking towards me.

"My liege, I believe it would be appropriate to inform you that Link should recover in the near future. As far as I can tell, he is merely in a self-induced coma. Either he'll wake up within a month or he'll be in a coma forever. One of the two."

"You again. Bright little ray of sunshine, aren't we?" I commented as Tsugaru stopped in front of us.

"Ah, Zelda of the Realms of Darkness, so good to see you," Tsugaru said, bowing to the other Zelda. "How have you been?"

"Decent enough, though my world's being torn apart."

"_Was_ being, actually," Tsugaru corrected. "Your world _was_ being torn apart. No longer, though, for Link has fixed everything."

"You mean everything in my world is still intact?"

"Aye, my Queen. The Realm of Darkness that you reside over is being restored just as the Realm of Light is. Soon enough, both worlds will be separate once more."

"Good, good. Now, is that all you came here to tell me or is there some other matter you need from one of us?" I snapped, angry still at his last appearance.

"Harsh words, my Queen," he replied. "And dripping with acid, I might add. No, that is all, though I do wish to remind you that just because the worlds are separate again does not mean I will vanish as well."

"Lovely. That's all we need hanging around Hyrule Castle, a magician vagabond."

Before Tsugaru could reply, there was a bright flash of light from the tree house where Link was sleeping. We, being me, Tsugaru, the other Zelda, and Sarah, spun around and rushed toward the house.

Link jumped from the doorway to the ground. He landed and looked up at us, the wind whipping around him. The Master Sword, unsheathed and in his left hand, was aglow with a strange light that emanated heat that I could feel even from this distance. There was a fierce light in his eyes as he looked around.

"Link!" I exclaimed, rushing up to him. He dropped the Master Sword and threw his arms around me as I did the same.

"Zelda, you're okay... I was afraid that..." He stopped, letting the sentence hang.

"No, Link, I'm fine. What about you? What happened?"

He let go of me and sighed. "Dark Link came back. After I defeated Twinrova, he attacked me. It was a close call that I survived and until I woke up a second ago, I thought I had died. I don't know what happened to Dark Link, but I doubt he's dead either."

**(-)**

She was just happy to have me back. Sure, she was interested in what I had to say and what happened, but I knew that she wasn't unduly worried about Dark Link at this moment. I decided not to tell her about how he can't be killed unless I die and how I had decided that I was ready to die to defeat him in that dark room. She didn't need to know all of that.

I hugged her again. "Back or not, you're alright," she said. "And guess what?"

"What?" I asked.

"Hyrule's fixed! Whatever you did, you fixed it! In a few hours we'll be able to walk into Hyrule Castle, together."

I nodded. "Yes, together."

"Cut the sappy stuff already," Sarah commented. "You have the rest of your lives to talk like that."

"Saria, leave them alone for now," Father replied. "Link almost died and still managed to restore Hyrule. He's earned it."

"Thanks, Father," I said. Then, seconds later, I hugged Zelda again. "I'm so glad you're here!"

"Father?" the other guy asked. I stopped and looked at him.

"Who're you?"

He bowed. "Tsugaru at your service, great Hero."

I glanced at Zelda. "He's the guy that dropped by a while back, right?"

"I see my reputation precedes me."

"That's not a good thing, you know."

"Yeah, Link, he's the one."

"Is there something I can help you with?"

"No, kind Hero. I was just on my way." With that, he vanished into thin air.

"Weird. Now, shall we go see what Hyrule's like now?"

The Zeldas nodded and we left the Clearing, Sarah staying behind to inform 'Lissa.


	23. Back Home At Last!

**A/N: Okay, now that they've left the Dark World, I'm reverting back to third person. If, after reading this, you'd rather me keep first person, please let me know. Oh, and I have no idea if some of the stuff in this chapter can really exist, but since I'm the writer and could invoke a massive attack from Flying Space Kitties if I like, I allow it to exist. (No worries, there aren't any Flying Space Kitties yet.)**

**Chapter Twenty-Three – Back Home At Last!**

Link, Zelda, and Dark Zelda walked out of the Clearing and into the Kokiri Forest. Everywhere they looked, greenery was sprouting. It was as if the area was being born anew.

"Amazing..." Dark Zelda commented, watching the ladder that led to one of the Kokiri balconies repair itself, giving access to the house once more, though as to why there was a cow on that balcony was beyond her. Catching up to Link and Zelda, they exited the Kokiri Forest and entered Hyrule Field.

Everything seemed as it should. The sun was shining down on the Field, drying the early morning dew from the grass. Near a patch of flowers, a butterfly landed just in time to be knocked off as the strange runner with the Bunny Hood tore across Hyrule Field.

Happy, Link and Zelda joined the man in his morning run, both quickly left behind. Dark Zelda walked back to Link and Zelda, looking at them quizzically.

"Come on, Zelda! Cheer up! Your world's back to normal, too!" Zelda shouted, breaking into a run across the Field. Link and Dark Zelda shot across the Field right behind her.

"Where are we heading?" Dark Zelda shouted, flying across the landscape, Link and Zelda to her left.

"Hyrule Castle, of course!" Zelda replied. "You've never been there, so you've got to be shown around!"

Dark Zelda glanced uneasily at Link, recalling her attempt at trapping Link in a mock-up of the Castle. He waved it off, however, and kept running.

"Yeah! Any Zelda should know her way around the Castle, whether or not one exists!"

The three quickly reached the river, at which they were joined by several Zoras who were rejoicing at the restored Hyrule.

"Zelda! Link! Thank Jabu you're safe!" Ruto shouted, running up to them.

"Ruto! Glad to see that you're okay as well! How's the Domain?" Link replied.

Everything's back to normal now! The Zoras were able to avoid most of the negative effects by hiding out in Lord Jabu-Jabu's fountain!"

"That's great! Any word from the Gorons?"

"Darunia dropped by! He said everyone's just fine!"

"Okay! We're heading up to the Castle! You coming?"

"No thanks! I've gotta help my dad get back up into his chair! He fell off trying to get into the Fountain!"

Link laughed. "Alright! See ya!"

Ruto headed back to where the Zoras were swimming, leaving Link, Zelda, and Dark Zelda to run their way to the castle.

The three of them tore through Hyrule Castle Town. Several times one of the three came close to smashing into an innocent bystander. Eventually, however, the three made it to the castle without injury.

They threw open the doors to the Castle, startling several people standing in the main room.

"Zelda!" Darunia exploded. "You're alive!"

"My Queen!" one of the villagers exclaimed. (This particular villager was later identified as the woman in Kakariko who raises Cuccos for a living, though she is allergic to them.) "We were all so worried!"

Impa stepped from the darkness behind the two. "You're surprised?"

The woman jumped back, turning to face Impa. "Well, _you_ almost gave me a heart attack!"

Sheik laughed, landing on the ground behind the woman. "Good thing you don't live here, then. Impa delights in that."

The woman screamed in terror upon hearing Sheik and fell to the floor. Sheik sighed and lifted her up, placing her in a nearby chair.

"I'm honestly clueless as to why she was here, anyway," Darunia confided, drawing a laugh from everyone. However, the laughter was cut short as the woman screamed again, this time waking just in time to see Dark Zelda enter the castle.

"What'd I miss?" Dark Zelda commented, looking around.

"Terrified Cucco Lady," Link responded. "I assume you've met my accomplices in crime?"

"Crime, Link?" Impa asked. "Something happen in the Dark World that I miss?"

"Oh, a thing or two," Link replied, glancing over at Zelda.

Impa sighed. "What did you do, how bad will it look to the neighboring kingdoms, and when can I expect the new heir?"

Zelda's face flushed red as a tomato. "It's nothing like that!"

"Okay, making sure. So, what _did_ happen?"

"Link almost died three or four times, but that was about it."

"I see. Sheik?"

Sheik thought for a second. "She's telling the truth, mostly. There's a bit more that she's not telling, but it's stuff that would make her face glow even more, not to mention take Link by surprise."

"What?" Zelda exclaimed, surprised. "Do you have some sort of psycho-link to my brain or something?"

Sheik laughed. "Not really. There's this, though." He lifted up his gloved hand. Removing the glove, the Mark of the Triforce lit up, the bottom left triangle glowing brightly."

"That's the mark of the Triforce of Wisdom! I thought I had it, though."

"You did, and you do, but I have it, too, and it's really complicated, so I'm going to leave it at that." He replaced the glove on his hand. "Now, you are, indeed, the Zelda of the Dark World?"

Dark Zelda nodded. "I am."

"That... is problematic," Impa said."

"Why? The world's not going to implode or anything, is it?" Link asked, worried.

"No, no, no. It's just that, with this Zelda here, there is no one leading her people in the Dark World. She must be ferried across immediately."

"Well, Impa, unless you have a portal in your pocket or something, I don't see how. I say that, while you and the other Sages figure out something, we show this Zelda around Hyrule Castle Town, seeing as how there isn't one in the Dark World."

"There's not a castle in the Dark Hyrule?"

"Not anymore. There was, but there was some incident a few generations back that destroyed it. It's just a big crater now."

"Where do you live?"

"I stay in Kakariko. Now that I've seen the majesty of Hyrule Castle firsthand, though, I'm thinking of having it rebuilt."

"It's a good idea. I can go fetch the plans from the library, if you would like," Impa suggested.

"That's a great idea, if you don't mind." As Impa disappeared into the shadows, Zelda led Link and Dark Zelda around the castle.

**-----**

"He was always a troubled child. You see, I grew up with him, living in Kakariko. A woman found him a few meters from the Lost Woods. His parents had probably been killed by rouges in the forest. She brought him to Kakariko and raised him. However, he took a liking to pilfering carts and pick pocketing people. He almost snatched my father's wallet once. Either way, he grew. When I was about ten or so, he started showing up at my house, asking my father to teach him how to swordfight. Of course, my father agreed.

"During his spare time, he and I would hang out a lot. He'd tell me about his plans, how he wanted to protect our land from invaders, though there wasn't any. He confided in me that he would do anything to learn more about swordfighting. Then, about a month later, a Gerudo appeared, searching for the Triforce. We, of course, had heard of rumors of this mystical item, but we had thought it was on the other side of the Door of Time in the Temple of Time. He knew, though. I never knew how he knew, but he knew. He struck up a deal with Ganondorf. He would take Ganondorf to the Triforce, but only if he would train him in swordfighting. Ganondorf agreed and they disappeared.

"Eight years passed with no word. Suddenly, he appeared in my house in a rush of shadows. He told me what had happened the past eight years – of spending six years training with the Gerudo, of watching you, Link, emerge from the Temple on the seven year anniversary of coming into your world, even how he inhabited your shadow, taking it from you and fighting you. He then told me that you were despicable and an enemy to all the free people of Hyrule and if I ever saw you, to kill you on sight. He then told me of his plan to destroy your world by expanding mine.

"Now, I wish to say that, at that moment, I did not know fully what was going on. However, I trusted him, as you, Zelda, trust Link. He vanished, leaving only his plan and a promise to return to me if everything went according to plan. Soon enough, the Temple of Time started pulsing and I watched as parts of my world were torn to pieces until there was nothing left except the Temples. That's when the doors to the Temple of Time slammed shut, trapping me in. After a minute or so, the doors reopened and I found myself back in my world, though I knew it wasn't. He had implemented his plan, and this was the result.

I saw the bubbles, as you call them, around the Temples, preventing the worlds from erasing each other. The bubbles were weakening my world, though, and had they continued to exist, my world would have fallen apart and vanished, along with your world. Koume and Koutake then came to me and told me that they knew where both Links were. I knew that if they were near each other, one would try to kill the other, so I followed. Koume told me that if I distracted Link long-"

"Zelda, you don't-"

"Link, it's okay. I will take the consequences of my actions. Koume told me that, because of his recent fights, he would be desperate enough to see you that I could convince him I was you and in doing so distract him long enough so that Koume and Koutake could collapse the Temples and save my Hyrule. You must also remember that, at this point, I believed that Link was pure evil because of what my Link had said to me. So, after an attempt to copy me and fool Link orchestrated by Koume and Koutake, I came in and brought Link to a mock up of Hyrule Castle. He was fooled, but only until he got a good night's sleep. After the night, he quickly found out that I wasn't the right Zelda. I gave in easily. I had spent most of the night thinking this over and when he told me he knew I wasn't you, I realized how I'd feel if you fooled my Link away from me. I took him to the Forest and you know the rest."

Zelda nodded. "It's a lot to think about, that's for sure. As for the whole masquerading as me bit, you and Link didn't do anything, right?"

Dark Zelda shook her head. "Of course not."

"Good, then you're fine in my book. Now, as for you..."

"Hey! For my credit, I had my doubts! That's how I figured it out so early in the morning. You know how I am when I'm tired, and after fighting Koume and Koutake..."

"I know, Link. Don't worry, I forgive you, too. Now, come on, let's go do _something_!"

**-----**

"You get on this and spin until you throw up?" Dark Zelda asked, dubious of the thing in front of her.

"More or less, yeah," Link responded, climbing into the metal box. "Come on!"

"No way," Dark Zelda said, turning away.

"Fine then," Zelda said, jumping in beside Link. "So, you spin this ship wheel and the box goes in circles?"

"Exactly!" Link exclaimed. He slammed the gate shut and started spinning the wheel. The box, defying the very laws of nature known as friction, picked up speed.

Dark Zelda ended up almost throwing up just watching them spin around. They stopped before that, though, sending Link and Zelda stumbling around on the ground.

"That was fun!"

Before Link could respond, there was a flash of light from the Temple of Time and a sound as if a lightning bolt had struck the ground. The three of them instinctively took off running toward the Temple.

"What happened?" Link shouted, sliding into the Temple.

Impa turned to look at him. Rauru, Sarah, Darunia, Ruto, and Nabooru stood next to her, all looking at Link except Sarah, who was looking at the large blue portal-like thing stretched across the Door of Time.

"What's that?" Zelda asked.

"It's a portal. It should link the Dark World with the Light World. I'm sorry, Zelda, I would love to keep you a while longer and have you help me keep these two tame, but your country will need a leader and as Queen, it's your responsibility. I'm a normal person, yes, but I'm a Sheikan sworn to uphold the Royal Family first, and that includes the Royal Family of a different dimension."

Dark Zelda nodded. "I understand. You do have a point. Link, Zelda, thanks for today. You two were fun. Maybe we can hang out again, this time under better circumstances. The Dark World is amazing in certain areas, you know."

"Well, I'll have to stop by and check it out. Until then, though, you behave, okay? Remember, I've got friends in the Dark World," Link replied.

The Zeldas laughed. "Well, that goes for you, too. Don't do anything to Zelda that you wouldn't do to me," Dark Zelda said.

"Aw, come on! That's no fair!"

Dark Zelda laughed, stepping into the blue portal. "Farewell..."

**

* * *

A/N: And with this chapter, I bring this story to a close. Yes, I know it's just barely half of what the original Hidden Abilties was, but seeing as how this story had a definable plot since the beginning, I think that when that plot ended (as it just did), the story should end. Nevertheless, I have included a bonus chapter after this, along with a few things from me, the writer. Go ahead, read it!**


	24. Bonus Chapter and Thanks

**A/N: This is just a bit of story that I wanted to stick in here. There's no leading up to it except for the previous twenty-three chapters. Just enjoy.**

* * *

It was sunset, the sun slipping slowly down to the horizon, bathing the area in a red-orange light. Link and Zelda, who sat on the edge of a small bit of ground that jutted above Lake Hylia, were watching the sun as it fell. They sat side by side, Zelda slightly leaning on Link. 

"Do you think that Hyrule's back to normal for good now?" Zelda asked.

"Yes," Link stated. "I checked the gate myself, along with Rauru, Sarah, Darunia, Ruto, Impa, and Nabooru. That portal's sealed and nothing's coming in or out of it unless the Sages wish it."

Zelda smiled. "That's good. I think I like Hyrule better as is."

"Even with that strange guy with the bunny hood running around like a maniac and cheating every time he races?" Link queried.

Zelda turned her head to look up at Link. "You know, I beat him once."

"Oh? I bet it's just because you're the Queen. I've never beat him and we both know that I'm faster than you."

"Only when you've got those cute little rabbit ears on, flapping in the wind. Besides, you're better than me at a lot more things so I claim this one."

"Only because I'm more adept at handling that big pointy weapon of mine."

Zelda giggled. "Yeah, like that."

They were quiet for the next few minutes, staring at the ever-sinking sun. As the sun vanished completely, dragging the red-orange glow, Zelda sighed.

"Getting sleepy are we?" Link asked.

"Sort of." She thought for a moment, then said, "Did you bring the Ocarina with you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Play me a song or two?"

"Anytime." Link took out the Ocarina of Time from his bag and quickly decided on a small series of songs. Avoiding the songs that had strong magical ties, he decided on a selection and started in on the notes.

He played each of the songs, the notes drifting across the water, as if dancing on its edge. Even though the songs didn't cause anything to happen like the Sun's Song or the Song of Storms, each song had its own magic about it. Each note reminded him of the adventures where he had found the songs.

His time in Termina, marked by the Song of Healing, his trip to Labrynnia and Holodrum, shown with Dimitri's Tune that really only carried on the Flute, his dream-adventure in Koholint, evident by the Ballad of the Wind Fish, all these songs and more flowed from the Ocarina, which seemed to pulse in the night. Deciding to wrap it up, he knew exactly how to end it.

The beginning six notes sang out from the Ocarina, the melody instantly settling around the two of them. He continued the song, avoiding its effect as best he could. He could feel Zelda slip slowly to sleep by his side, though. As the song reached its end, he noticed that Zelda had fallen back and now was fast asleep, her head propped on his lap. He smiled, running his hand through her golden hair. He put his arm around her shoulder and surrendered to the Lullaby's effect, falling asleep as well.

* * *

**A/N: Enjoyed it? Good! After twenty-four (or sixty-five for my more die-hard fans) chapters, do you still feel up to reading more? Good! In a little less than a week from this update, I will have ready for you, my loyal reader(s), the first chapter of the continuing Hidden Abilities Saga! This story, called Strangers from the South, will cover the next adventure in the lives of Link and Zelda and might even wrap up a few of the things I wrote but never finished. I know for a fact that the story will tell:**

**1. What happens to Elissa**

**2. What the deal was with that Tsugaru character**

**3. What happened to Fayette, that Gerudo I specifically named and gave history to**

**4. What's been going on with Sarah**

**At least those, if not other things. Now, if that doesn't make you want to read it, nothing will. One week...**

**Since I have a bit of chapter left here, I just want to thank everyone who's had any part in this story!**

**Chace, SolidSnake0, Stickman0, Guybrush007, Zelink-luvr, and Gabrielus Rex: Thank you all so much for your reviews! You have no idea how encouraging it is to see the things that people have to say about a story I've written.**

**People Who have PMed me and didn't review: I'd thank you in name here, but Yahoo! isn't exactly friendly with my mail, so none of them remain in any of my Boxes or else I would. Either way, for those who did, thanks to you, too! It's nice to check my mail and see some of the good things that you've written me.**

**Sam: I know you didn't review any of this, but one, you were a big help in the first HA and a giver of great advice for this one through our random conversations about our stories. Thanks a ton.**

**Cheryl: I could type three pages of thank yous to you and it wouldn't be near enough. Not only are you my most frequent reviewer, you're always there to help me barrel through any writer's block I may have and you're always there to lend a helpful hand when I need it. You've managed to listen to me talk and talk and talk about my story without at least giving the impression that you've wanted to wring my neck to make me stop. You have your own stories to write and your own deadlines to meet and yet you're still ready to leap headfirst into a chapter idea I might have or delve into my plot ideas and help me dredge the best ones to the surface. Very little of this story would be here if not for you. For that, and many other things, thank you.**

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He Who Lurks In Shadow


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